


Afterimage

by litra



Category: Justice League, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League of America (Comics), Justice Society of America (Comics), The Flash (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Barry allen is dead, Gen, Justice Lords, dictatiors, justice league animated universe, lots of characters, not Wally, rebelion, the flash is dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-03
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-20 03:58:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 155,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/581070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in the Justice Lord's universe. What if, when Flash was killed, it wasn't Wally but Barry who died? Growing up the world is a very different place for the boy who was once Kid Flash. Over two years tensions grow until the status quo is suddenly and radically changed. Suddenly it's time to choose a side and find out what makes a hero, or a villain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_My name is Wally West; I'm the fastest man alive, and no one knows it._

 

Early February: 4 months before the end.

 

Wally slung his bag over his shoulder and watched the conveyer belt for the sky blue suitcase that his aunt insisted on using when flying. Wally didn't like flying, not that he had many occasions to fly. There was just something about being stuck in what amounted to a big metal box hurtling through the air for several hours that made him uncomfortable. He would have avoided this trip if possible but he didn't have any good reason not to. Iris had insisted, she said it would be fun to get out of the rut he was living in. The bag dropped out of the shoot and Wally pushed forward to grab it before it was out of reach. 

He found his aunt still in line for a rental car and joined her. It was another half hour before they finally had a car and were driving towards Star City. The time passed agonizingly slowly; but Wally had had plenty of practice controlling himself. He had been hiding his speed for the past two years, this was just another part of it. He played games in his head to amuse himself and couldn't stop himself from smiling when he mentally rearranged the letters in a few of the airports signs or pictured the woman behind the counter as a robot.

“So, who is it this time?” he asked when they were approaching the city in a tiny blue car that Wally could have done laps around without even trying. He had been along on three such trips before, acting as a cameraman while Iris did her interviews. They were interesting at least, and credit where credit was due, Iris was an amazing reporter. She had a way of zeroing in on interesting tidbits and turning them into award winning stories. Being the Flash's widow didn't hurt matters either. Except for a few pointed calls, the Lords had left her alone, even when other reporters had vanished for writing the same stories. She wasn't quite as daring as Lois Lane had been before Superman had taken her into 'protective custody' but then Central didn't have quite as many crazy happenings as Metropolis. If Iris was going all the way to Star City then there was a story there worth writing.

“Oliver Queen is running for Mayor.” was her cryptic reply.

Wally worked his way through the statement. He knew Oliver Queen had been a very wealthy man until just over a decade ago when an accident had convinced the world of his death. By the time he had reappeared his fortune had been stolen out from under him. Queen's money was old news, and Iris normally didn't write that kind of thing anyway. If it wasn't the history then maybe something new.

“What's his platform?”

“Mostly the usual, but he has made a few big promises. Supporting small businesses, funding higher education, oh and giving voters more power over city spending.” there was a twitch at the corner of her mouth that suggested a smirk.

Wally's mind sped through the facts she had laid out and came to the only conclusion that would make Iris spend two days just to get one interview.

“He's running an anti-Lords campaign?”

“Oh no, he's never said a thing about the Lords.” Iris gave Wally a sly look. “He just wants to help the common man build his own future. That's his slogan.”

Wally grinned. “Oh that's good.”

Iris nodded. “So far he's leading 16% in the polls too. He's a shining example of mankind's ability to rise above adversity even in the darkest of places.” she slipped into her reporters voice for the second half. Technically the statement was true. Queen was showing how even a man who had lost everything could become something, and he was doing it in the city of the infamous Green Arrow. One of the few places in the country where the Lords hold wasn't as strong. Even so the underlying message came through almost painfully clearly.

“Isn't that a bit overt, even for you?”

“Not if he can get elected.”

“That's a big if.”

“The Lords have never interfered with anything below the state level.”

Wally didn't answer. They both knew the arguments backwards and forwards. Iris was convinced that she had to do everything she could. He really couldn't fault her for it, she was doing more then he was, but sometimes her stories triggered actions that might not have been otherwise taken. Overt rebellions were easier to make examples of. Mostly Wally just didn't want to lose anyone else. 

There was a silence for a while before they changed the subject. By the time they reached the hotel they were back on good terms. 

That night they ordered takeout so Iris could finalize her list of questions for the interview the next day. Wally roamed through the two rooms and flipped channels on the cheep TV until Iris snapped at him to stop distracting her. She smiled as she said it but she meant it all the same. The truth was, Wally was jittery. He hadn't had a chance to let off steam all day what with the plane and the lines and the car. Just because he had made a choice not to use his powers after his uncle had been killed didn't mean they went away. The speed force was still running through his veins and it didn't like being locked up. Wally had learned to control it by calling on the speed only in short bursts. Not that it really helped. The last time he had cut lose had been months ago, and if he ever allowed himself to admit it, he missed the feeling. It was a rush, a runner's high multiplied a thousand times. 

“I'll just take a walk.” He grabbed his coat when he saw Iris nod. He needed to be moving so he opted for the stairs rather then the elevator. Soon he was out on the pavement breathing in the smells of the city. He chose a direction and started walking. He wasn't worried about trouble. After going up against people like Captain Cold at the age of 14 ordinary thugs just didn't make the same impression. It might have been years ago but some things just didn't fade with time. Those three years with his uncle still felt like the only time he had been alive. 

He stepped out onto the pavement and turned looking both ways down the street before choosing a direction. He wanted to run. He wanted to cut loose, run all the way back to Keystone just to get the half eaten jug of triple chocolate ice cream from his apartment. He could run up to Bludhaven and catch up with Dick, maybe go to that 24 hour doughnut shop. Dick had always been a night person he'd definitely still be up despite the time difference. He might still be able to catch the sunset from Coast City if he hurried. Wally stopped as he reached the corner.

He breathed slowly as he waited for the crosswalk to change. It was always hardest on nights like this. Wally had to remind himself again and again of the reasons not to let himself go supersonic. The Flash was dead. As far as most of the world was concerned he had been the last speedster, and it had to stay that way.

The Lords had made it clear that anyone with powers only had two options: sign up as a lieutenant, or be hunted down. As a speedster, and moreover someone who had a connection to Flash, he would be forced into a lot of terrible things if the Lords ever learned the truth. They thought that the death of his uncle had robed him of his powers either because his powers had come from Barry or because the event was simply that traumatizing. Of course to them it didn't really matter, Kid Flash had never made too much of a name for himself. He had been a child. A fifteen year old superhero wouldn't have been allowed to run around without a mentor. Him loosing his powers had been one less thing for them to worry about. Now though at nearly 18 having him join the Lords would be a political masterstroke. The moment he stepped out of the shadows he would have to chose a side.

The city around him was different from most of the others he had visited, not that he was much of a traveler. Star City just seemed to scream out the differences as if daring you to comment. Most cities, especially the Lord protected ones were clean. Here little things crept in on the edges, a turned over trash can that had spilled into the street. Gutters that were clogged with more then just old leaves, “urban art” covering ally walls and the underside of bridges. It made the city less pleasant, like mold creeping across a wall, and yet it was also a subtle sign of defiance. 

The twin cities didn't have that kind of defiance, even though the Lords were rarely seen in Central and Keystone. Instead the people tried to pretend that nothing was wrong. It was like the city had lost it's center when they had lost their hero. They didn't know how to fight back any more.

Green Arrow on the other hand seemed to encourage these subtle defiances. The people in his town knew the truth, thanks in no small part to their personal robin hood. 

Wally shook his head trying to clear it. Of all the things he could think of why did it always end up there. He had midterms coming up, why couldn't he be worrying about those. Or he could think about Linda, the girl of his dreams who always sat at the front of his sociology class and as far as he knew, didn't realize he even existed. 

Or he could think about the scream that just came from somewhere off to his right.

There are many types of screams. Screams of anger sound very different from screams of fear. This was a scream of pain. Wally considered his options. His first instinct even now after over two years was to help, to run to the rescue. His second thought was to ignore it. Those two years had taught him to hide, to stay safe, to not risk it because the only real hero was dead. Because Flash was dead and there was no point in a Kid Flash without a Flash. Then he thought about how Berry would have reacted to those thoughts. How he would have looked at him with that slightly sad smile and given him a hug before telling him he shouldn't just give up like that. 

That lead him to the memory of his aunt Iris at the ceremony they had held. It was small since only the few people who knew Berry was the Flash attended. Everyone else got the other story, witness protection or some ridiculous thing like that. The Lords wouldn't let them have the body. Iris still kept one of Berry's flash rings on a chain around her neck. The way she had looked at him, pulling him close as if he could vanish any second as well.

Wally managed to tear himself away from the memory, forcing himself to consider the options. When it came right down to it there was only one choice to make: help or don't. Everything else, all the variables, fell into one of those two categories. Help or ignore it. Help them or deny the fact that he could help them, and let whatever terrible thing that was happening continue. 

Maybe it had to do with his powers but he had never been very good at _not_ doing things. 

All his thoughts and hesitations took less then two seconds to proses. His mind had slipped into high gear, and it was a battle to keep his body from doing the same. He made a guess at where the screams were coming from, and managed to stay under 20 MPH as he traced them back to their source. He reached them before first scream had finished echoing off the buildings. 

The situation was one that he should have expected.

A young woman, 20 at the oldest, had been pressed against a wall by a man who had to be 30 pounds heaver and several inches taller then she was. He had hold of one of her wrists and there was a red mark across her face from the slap that he was threatening to repeat.

The Lords would never manage to get rid of crime entirely. Even the Lords home cities would never be completely rid of scum. The bad guys just covered their tracks better. Well maybe that wasn't true in Gotham, the bat supposedly spent more time at home then the rest of them. And Superman was good at multitasking and had the x-ray vision, so Metropolis might be as clean as it looked. Everywhere else though, small crimes still went unpunished. 

This was one case where Star City's rebellious streak probably wasn't helping. The man hadn't even bothered to cover her mouth so her screams wouldn't attract attention.

Standing in the mouth of the ally Wally could see the man lean forward, speaking in low gruff tones. The girl shrank in on herself. She wasn't screaming anymore, she probably wouldn't have screamed at all if not for the pain. She had that deer in the headlights look that victims got after they retreated into their own minds, just wishing it would go away. 

Wally took one step forward then stopped. He felt the need to act, but who exactly was acting?

Wally West had spent the last two years basically in hiding. He got average grades, owned a car that had been in the shop for the last two weeks, ate the same gunk food as everyone else his age and sometimes went to the soccer games on Saturdays. This one act could tear that carefully constructed persona apart at the seams.

Wally West had never been the hero, that had been Kid Flash. KF had been the one who could run faster then sound. He was the hero. Back then nothing could stop them, Flash and Kid Flash, Central and Keystone's ever present protectors. Kid Flash was the one who was needed now, and that was the problem. He had promised himself he would never be Kid Flash again. He had outgrown that identity, leaving it behind along with his speed and his innocence. It was impossible to go back to that.

He stood watching, full of indecision. Unwilling or unable to act. Even with his enhanced thought speed it had to be several minutes before he shook himself out of his introspection. It was the man that triggered it. He wrenched the woman away from the wall dragging her across the ground as her legs gave out.

“Hey, Stop it.” Wally hadn't meant to say anything and now that the words were out he couldn't seem to remember what to do next. The man looked up. At first his expression seemed to be nervous but seeing only a young man rather then some kind of hero boosted his confidence. 

It didn't seem like there was anything Wally could do but leave, or no he could stay, he just couldn't fight. He instinctively knew that would be too much, he would slip into old habits and wouldn't be able to stop himself from speeding up. Then again he wasn't sure he would be able to stop himself from speeding up if the guy started beating him either.

When the man saw him hesitating he grew bolder. “Get out of here kid, before you get involved in something nasty.” 

Wally shook his head, not really at the man but at himself and his own inability to make one simple little choice. The man didn't know that though, he just saw some strange kid interrupting him and refusing to leave. He looked at the girl who was still whimpering collapsed in a pile of limbs and fake silk. She didn't look like she had the mind left to run even if she was given the chance. Still he didn't seem to like the idea of letting go of her to deal with the annoyance that had shown up in the form of a young man with red hair. Not to mention the longer this all took the higher the chances of someone important coming along.

That fact seemed to dawn on both of them at the same time. Wally fumbled as he tried to retrieve his phone. At the same time, if a degree slower, the man reached under his jacket and grabbed something that had been tucked into the back of his belt. When Wally saw the dull mettle of the gun he nearly bolted. The stakes had just been upped and secret or not he had to act. His left foot came up and forward, ready to launch him into subsonic speed. His mind was calculating his path and how much he would have to slow down to pick the woman up safely, how fast he could go if he didn't want to knock her out with the worst case of whiplash ever experienced.

His heightened perceptions saw the arrow enter his field of vision in what seemed like slow motion. It passed by him not four inches from his left ear. As he pulled back his own speed he realized that the arrow was going a lot faster then it seemed. Only then did his mind get around to working out it's trajectory. The green fletching protruded from the barrel of the man's gun like some strange flower for a fraction of a second before the momentum ripped the gun from his hand. 

Wally tried to turn, one foot still in the air, to see where the shot had come from, and only succeeded in losing his balance and stumbling slightly as he tried to regain it. Green arrow, in full robin hood regalia was standing two yards behind him and slightly to the left. Green arrow spared him a glance another arrow already set to the string.

Then the sounds of fighting started up behind him and he couldn't think except to turn around and see what the hell was going on. Another archer, this time in red was pretty efficiently knocking the guy out. With his bow still on his back the red archer threw a pair of punches before shifting back as the man tried to retaliate. Red Arrow waited until the man's arm was fully extended then followed it back with his own fist. He connected just below the mans collar bone, the force sending him stumbling back into the wall of the ally and down. Red Arrow stood over the man, glaring down at him and just daring him to even try to get back up. 

Only then did Wally realize he wasn't needed. The man may not have been unconscious, but he was certainly beaten, and with two heroes on the scene he had gone back to bystander status. That was almost as much of a shock as the gun had been, and suddenly he was stumbling sideways and leaning against the wall himself. 

What had he been thinking? He had been about to toss the last two years in hiding out the window, and that was the real answer, he hadn't been thinking. Why on earth had it taken him that long to simply reach for his phone? The whole standoff could have been avoided if he had just called 911 when he first heard the scream. Green Arrow was the only reason he wasn't already looking over his shoulder for a bat shaped shadow that would signal the end.

“You ok?” Wally looked at the hand on his shoulder and honestly didn't know how to react. Was he supposed to be in awe of the hero? Or maybe he should act afraid, after all this particular hero was a renegade against the Lords. Inexplicably the only thoughts he could manage to summon were a couple old stories that his uncle Hal had told him about when he and Arrow had gone on a crazy road trip across the country. 

“Yeah,” Wally finally managed to say. He pushed himself back into a proper standing position. “I didn't expect you to show up like that.” well it was an honest answer at least. He looked from Green Arrow to Red Arrow to the girl who was looking at the two heroes with an unbelieving, shocked look plastered on her face.

If he was honest this was the closest he had come to that world, the world of heroes and villains and damsels in distress since his decision to leave it. He wanted to smile, laugh, assure them that he had it covered but thanks for the help anyway. While at the same time he wanted to whimper in pain because he knew he couldn't laugh with them.

“I should go.” his voice was flat and he managed to keep most of his emotions hidden. “Thanks for... thanks” He turned and slowly walked away, letting them see every step he took. His speed heading back to the hotel was what other people might consider a slow jog. To Wally it felt like a snails pace but he didn't even consider speeding up.

 

~ * ~

 

The two heroes watched him go. Red Arrow sent a stray kick at the man by his feet when the dreg tried to crawl away. He pulled a length of cord from his belt and tied the man up tighter then really necessary. When he stood he found GA still looking after the red haired young man.

“What? Did I miss something?”

“No, I just thought he looked familiar.” he shook his head to clear it and turned to the young woman. With Red Arrow rolling his eyes, Green Arrow turned on the charm and assured the lady that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her. 

Red Arrow looked after the red haired stranger. He had to admit, there had been something about him, A look just before Ollie had fired. There was no way Ollie had seen it since he had been behind the stranger. Roy would remember that look, even if he didn't know what it meant. 


	2. Chapter 2

Wally slept fitfully that night. Normally he was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow, another side effect of a super fast metabolism. That night because of the incident, or because he was in a strange bed, or because he had tapped into his powers more then normal, he ended up having some of the strangest dreams since he had first gotten his powers. 

He was trapped in a mirror world where colors and sounds were reversed. There he met a girl who wore a black showgirl costume, rode a dove and spoke backwards. She picked him up and dropped him in her hat. He fell and found himself drifting through space with all the stars glowing green. The dark between the stars turned into a flight of hawks and crows that attacked him. Turning, he ran, stumbling through a brown world.

Fields gave way to empty, dirty streets until he was running through the streets of Central. It took him an age in dream time but he at last found someone else. The little boy was standing in a baseball field with an overlarge glove on his hand and a dozen baseballs strewn around his feet. The boy pointed up and said 'the sky is falling'. Wally looked expecting to see birds, but instead found a red sky where lightning chased its self in twisting patterns.

Even after he woke up those patterns still danced on the insides of his eye lids making him irritable and twitchy at breakfast.

Wally never drank coffee and with less sleep then normal he was constantly shifting between irritably sensitive and dead to the world. Iris somehow managed to get him into the car on time and the wind from the rolled down windows was enough to make him functional. By the time they arrived at the office of Oliver Queen he was mostly awake.

The office was not the high end thing that other campaign offices were. It had clearly been something else before his campaign had leased the office space. Desks had been set up in rows in the main room, with several flimsy office walls erected to section off space for more important or private areas. They were greeted by an enthusiastic secretary and were told to take a seat in what might have been termed a waiting area in a more established office. Iris went back to her notes. Wally was starting to get jittery again. He sat on the edge of his seat and watched a surprising amount of people running around in an ordered frenzy. Then he saw Roy.

At first he just stared, wondering where he knew the other red head from, but as Roy stalked across the room Wally recognized something else. It was how he walked with an easy balance and an eagle's fierce watchful gaze. That kind of awareness only came from fighting. Even the nicer heroes from before would sometimes let their eyes lose all emotion and survey their surroundings for threats. Soldiers sometimes ended up with eyes like that, or at least they had before the Lords had outlawed any overt combat. It was strange thinking about it from that point of view but there were good things that had come about because of the take over. These days the only ones with eyes like that were old men who had never lost the habit and maybe the Lords themselves; and apparently Oliver Queen's adopted son. 

There weren't a lot of ways Roy could have seen combat in Star city. Really it wasn't all that hard to figure out. He had seen him just the night before. While most people were too dazed or in awe when they met a hero to remember much, Wally knew how to look beyond a mask. His uncle Hal had only warn a small domino mask (mostly relying on his aura to hide his identity) and Wally had never had a problem recognizing him. 

Thinking about Hal got him thinking about the old days. Barry had always been the type of hero who would help out anyone who needed it including other heroes. Wally had met plenty of the old cape and cowl crew before the Lords was even formed. Not that they payed any attention to him. Normally when a situation required two full heroes the trainees, apprentices, sidekicks, whatever you wanted to call them, were told to stay at home. Most of the time he had hated that as a kid. On the other hand though, that was how he had met Robin and he and Dick were still good friends, even if they didn't see each other as often. 

That wasn't actually the first time he had met Green Arrow. Soon after he had gotten his powers but before Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris had started letting him help out as Kid Flash his Uncle Hal and Green Arrow had stopped by as part of one leg of their great cross country road trip. Only he hadn't known they were heroes at first, just some more of his uncles friends who constantly ignored him. Then GL and Arrow had helped take down the Weather Wizard. It was pretty much impossible to keep a secret identity from a determined eleven year old with super-speed. Hal had even come back to visit multiple times. Olli on the other hand....

Wally could have smacked himself. This is what happened when you were out of the game for any length of time. There was absolutely no reason that he hadn't figured it out sooner. He looked back up at Roy, Red Arrow obviously, how could he have missed that? He was talking to Mr. Queen's secretary and not looking happy about something. Wally was too far away to hear what they were saying and he had never had the patience to learn to lip read.

Finally Roy nodded at the woman and turned away. He had to dodge several groups of tables and people to reach the door, and that path took him past where Wally was sitting. Wally took a breath to say something but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't reveal either or both of them. In the end he settled on just nodding as Roy passed. It seemed like Roy recognized him from the night before if not as Kid Flash because he nodded back, though admittedly he looked more reserved or calculating then happy.

It was more than possible Roy didn't know who Wally really was, or at least, had been. Unlike Dick, Wally had only heard of Roy, not actually spent time with him. Hell, Wally had only met Oliver Queen a few times in passing. There was a chance even he wouldn't recognize them, or at least wouldn't recognize Wally. Iris and Barry had been one of the golden couples along with the Hawks and the Digbes. There was a good chance that Mr. Queen knew exactly who would be interviewing him. Not that it would matter to Iris. She was used to keeping secrets and treating heroes like two different people. If she knew who he was, fine. If she didn't remember, no big, no one would be able to tell the difference. Iris was kind of amazing that way.

The secretary finally approached them. “I'm sorry is it Miss West or Allen?”

“Iris is fine and it's Ms.”

“Of course, Mr. Queen is waiting for you.” She motioned to the door of one of the only offices with real walls.

Wally let Iris take the lead, solidly playing the quiet semi-invisible assistant. Entering the office he was confronted with an atmosphere of something slowly going out of control. A pair of filing cabinets stood half open with folders popping up at intervals. A computer, printer and fax machine sat on a folding table against one wall with their cords spilling in tangles underneath it. The solitary desk had several piles of paper that had probably once been organized but were now just wherever they had been put down last. 

Oliver looked up from the packet he was reading with more then a little relief. “Ms. Allen-West, welcome, please have a seat.” He shook her hand and motioned for her to sit in the single chair in front of the desk. Only then did he seem to notice Wally. Olli paused for a moment as if he wasn't sure if he should say anything or not, or what to say. It was only a moment and without super-speed it might not have been as noticeable. He stepped forward stretching out his hand.

“Oliver Queen.”

Wally took his hand. “Wally West. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Oliver nodded and turned to offer him a chair as well, only to notice that there wasn't one. He grinned and scratched at the back of his neck. “Ahh, right. I'll just tell Susan to fetch another chair.” He started to move towards the door. 

“Oh, don't worry about it.” Wally turned to his aunt. “You wont need me until the end, right?” he gestured with the camera. 

“I suppose not.”

“I'll go ahead and wait outside then.” He nodded at Mr. Queen and slid through the door that the man was still holding open.

It wasn't that he was uncomfortable, okay maybe a little, but he knew the interview would last at least an hour and a half. Sitting still and doing nothing for that long wasn't really his idea of fun. So for the second time in less then twenty four hours he ended up walking the streets, even if he was constantly checking his phone this time around.


	3. Chapter 3

It was an uneventful week after that. Back in Central, he went to classes, hung around and went on the long walks that he always did. But for some reason his mind kept wondering back to Star City. Those two had chosen the other path, to fight rather than whatever he had chosen. He wasn't hiding per-se since they all knew where he was, oh who was he kidding, hiding was exactly what he was doing. He had run away in all senses except he literal one.

When Iris's article came out he read it. Then he read it again trying to see what someone would see if they looked under the surface. The third time he read it, he tried to see if he could tell that Oliver Queen was Green Arrow just from the article. After the fourth time he had read it he realized how ridiculous he was being. The fact was, that he admired them for making the hard choice, because it was also the right choice.

The one thing that Barry had taught him was to always move forward. Right now he wasn't moving. He had avoided making any choice and so ended up at a standstill. It hadn't been the wrong thing to do exactly. There was a lot he hadn't known back when Barry died, but there was no doubt things would have been different if he had never chosen to hide his powers.

He pushed the matter aside yet again. 

Then a week and a half after Iris's article, an announcement was made by the Lords. It was a quiet press conference, no fuss was made, it wasn't even Superman who had been speaking. That honor belonged to J'onn J'onzz who managed to make everything sound as dull as possible, so even though Wally was listening to it first hand he almost missed what had occurred. 

Green Arrow was gone.

He had been captured by the Lords and was to be tried in a closed trial for inciting anarchy and civil unrest. J'onn prattled on about how several people who had been assaulted without cause would be heard from at the trial. And any evidence that anyone wanted to present for the case could be presented to the Lords who would be overseeing the proceedings. J'onn then moved on to speak about fishing rights in the Arctic Circle and a dispute that had been settled since the last press release. Translation: We are in control. Anyone who goes against us will be captured. Since we control the courts any trial will be nothing but a farce.

He didn't realize he was vibrating until the chair he was on started rattling fit to fall apart. The sounds of metal and cheap plastic starting to twist under the pressure forced him to his feet. He was breathing fast, ready to run, to pound someone's head in. His dorm room was suddenly too small, the walls practically leaned inward. He needed an outlet, some way to vent, because for some reason this was just going too far. 

Wally paced the length of the small room, still shaking with tension. He was moving too fast, but for the moment he didn't care. What he really needed was to talk to someone who understood where he was coming from, and not his aunt. Right now he needed a friend not a mother figure or whatever Iris was counted as. 

Who he really needed to talk to was Dick. The former Robin would understand exactly what he was going through and probably be as angry as he was that Green Arrow was being made an example of. Wally made one of his characteristic split second decisions and headed for the stairs. To hell with hiding every second, he was going to go see his friend and if that meant running all the way to Gotham then so be it.

In the parking lot the crisp winter air and a layer of frost on the ground sent a shiver through him. Captain Cold had always left a trail of frost around him, it was a little invigorating. Just for the sake of argument he checked the parking lot for his roommates car. John normally let him drive it for errands and things though going all the way to Gotham probably was stretching it. The car wasn't there in any case so it didn't really mater. 

Batman had ways of tracking anything that was going over a certain speed but staying subsonic and keeping to the highways where there were plenty of cars would mask his trail.

He ran. Tapping into the speed force more then he had for far too long. The energy coursed through him and made him want to go even faster blazing an electric trail in his wake. In town he had to regulate his speed so he didn't catch things in his slip stream. It was harder then it used to be; he was out of practice. Luckily there weren't many people out at that time of night on a Tuesday so he didn't really have to worry about being spotted by random passers by. Then he hit the highway and around him the world slowed down.

Seeing the world like that, with the wind whipping around him and all the details jumping out in technicolor. He caught snatches of sounds that belonged to places and people that he had already passed by miles. The world blurred around him and yet he managed to see all the details in this still life world. A perfect moment caught in time, that only he and a handful of others had ever had access to. This was how to live, to see each moment and be able to truly experience it rather then just letting each second turn into a minute and being too slow to pay attention as life passed by. 

People didn't appreciate how every day could be so amazing if they set out to make it amazing. Drones, all of them, and he had been a drone as well for so long. The elation that came with the miles passing under his feet opened his eyes again to the truth that he had let himself forget. Saving people had always been just a side effect, spreading hope, showing the whole world everything that could be, that was what he and Barry had really been doing.

Gotham came up far too fast for Wally's liking, but logically the farther and longer he ran the more likely he would get caught. He looped around the edge keeping to the quieter neighborhoods as he made his way to the area known as Bludhaven. As he slowed down the hunger kicked in, he had almost forgotten about that particular downside to his power. 

It was getting late by that point but there were still various places open, and one of them would be that doughnut shop. It would probably be a better idea to turn up with a dozen doughnuts in any case, since he hadn't thought to call ahead. His stomach protested, reminding him again that food would be a good thing. Maybe two dozen would be better, he had been running for a while. 

With two pink boxes of pastries acquired he honed in on his friend's apartment. The loft looked normal from the outside but old habits, especially old habits hammered into you by Batman didn't die easy. There were four different hidden cameras pointed at the front door alone and the place had to have the most advanced security system outside of a bank, on this side of the city. He knocked but there didn't seem to be an answer and there was no way Dick was already in bed, again old habits.

Wally didn't bother looking for a hidden key or anything. Dick would be more likely to pick the lock if he locked himself out then open up that kind of hole in his defenses. He could always try the skylight but getting up there wasn't nearly as easy as Dick made it look. Normally Wally wouldn't have minded hanging out outside but it was February and unlike Central, Bludhaven tended to get a decent amount of snow. Dick wouldn't mind him waiting inside, if he managed to find a way inside safely that is. Then again, it wasn't like his friend could set up too many traps, he could probably dodge anything that was thrown at him. Oh what was he thinking, this was his friend's apartment not some villain’s lair.

He pulled out his cell phone. Dick's number was one of the few Wally had bothered to memorize. He was still buzzed from his run so it seemed like it took forever for the call to connect.

“Hey, Wally, can this wait I'm kind of in the middle of something.” Dick's voice was tense and quiet as if he was whispering into the phone. There was also a lot of background noise, traffic mainly but also people talking.

Wally didn't mind hurrying things along. The sooner he got inside the sooner he could attack those doughnuts. “Sure, just give me the code to your apartment.” 

“You're in town?”

“Yep, but you're busy and it's cold out here.”

“7851120”

“Thanks, I'll see you later then.”

Wally hung up, punched in the numbers, and let himself in to the wonderful warmth. He flopped down on the couch in the main room after taking a moment to push various things off it. The donuts went onto the coffee table after he grabbed one from the box. He let himself relax, coming down off the high that the run had given him. Slowly he trimmed his connection to the speed force back down to the thread it had been that morning. It was almost painful and he knew he would probably end up running back to Central before morning but honestly if he left it full force like that he wouldn't be able to pull himself back later. 

After about ten minutes he got bored and snagged another two doughnuts and while exploring Dick's apartment. Dick had the strangest collection of books in the history of man, everything from old comic books to technical manuals to tattered paperback adventure stories. You'd think someone who had been a hero would find adventure stories boring and far fetched. Wally even picked up one of them up only to find notes scribbled in the margins. That possibly explained it. Wally raided the fridge for a diet soda and returned to the book laughing at the odd comments and trying to figure out when they had been written and by who since the writing style didn't seem like Dick. 

It was several hours later that Dick finally made an appearance. Wally was still flopped over the couch and most of the doughnuts were gone but he had managed not to fall asleep. Dick came in through the skylight which was not entirely unexpected. What was unexpected was his outfit. He was wearing a black catsuit with blue lines down the arms and a mask that was distinctly similar to the one he had worn as Robin.

Wally looked his friend up and down a tight feeling slowly gripping his chest. 

“Robin has a new costume I see.” Wally tried to keep the emotion out of his voice though what that emotion was he wasn't entirely sure. 

Dick smiled slightly. He reached up closing the skylight, then turned and flopped down across from Wally. “Actually it's Nightwing now. No relation to Robin whatsoever.”

Wally let his eyes wonder. He wasn't sure how he felt about his friend being back in the business and to find out like this rather then from the news or through the community. Was he really that out of the loop? Well it kind of made sense since Robin had originally been more secretive, but still.

“Does Bat's know?”

Dick sank back into his seat slightly. “Yeah, I think so.”

Wally glanced up giving him a look.

“Okay, he's Batman of course he knows. That doesn't mean I've made it obvious or that he's come out and said it.”

“So nothing from the Lords then?”

“Nope, the papers are saying Batman is expanding his territory. No one's got a good picture of me yet. You know Batman and the Lords. None of them come to Gotham without his say so.”

Wally nodded and for a time there was silence between them.

“So,” Dick eventually said clearly trying to change the subject. “I'm going to go get changed, then you can tell me why you came all the way here.”

"Right." Wally had managed to distract himself from all that. First the run then the doughnuts. It had been a surprise finding that his friend was back in the game at this stage. He would have to ask how long Nightwing had been active. The whole thing with Green Arrow had really gotten to him. More then he had thought, to risk it by coming here. It was a big deal, and he didn't know what he was going to do about it.

Dick came back in, in normal clothes this time. He tossed Wally a new soda and popped open his own.

"So, what's up? Last I heard you were still in Central, at college right?"

Wally nodded, rolling the can between his hands and wondering where to start.

"Did you see the JL announcement?"

Dick's face became that mask of no emotions that all the bat's seemed able to pull off. "I was busy..." 

"You taped it?"

Dick was already reaching for his remote as he nodded. The two of them watched it again. Wally watched his friend's reaction more then the TV. Dick had always been better at reading people and Wally already knew he couldn't get anything off the martian. 

Dick caught his breath when the moment came. He let the report finish then rewound it to the announcement about Green Arrow and watched it again looking for more details. The words seemed to drill into Wally's head as he heard them again and again. 

Finally Dick sat back and paused the video. "Wow."

"Yeah."

"I mean Green Arrow. He's been active almost as long as Batman."

Wally looked at the frozen image on the screen. "You see anything?" He nodded at the martian. 

Dick shrugged, "They're happy about it. This is a victory, but there's something else they're worried about.”

Wally just nodded taking in the words without really thinking about them too hard. Dick turned to look at his friend. His eyebrows came down and Wally could see him studying him. 

“There's something else isn't there? What is it?”

Wally took a breath and let it out slowly. “Did you ever meet Green Arrow?”

“No, Batman didn't like his style.” He hesitated then shrugged. “I did know who he was though.”

Wally stared at a spot on the floor across the room. “I met him a few times. My uncle was good friends with GL. The first GL, not Stuart. Then one summer the two of them, GL and Green Arrow, went on a road trip together. They stopped in to see Barry and after that I met him a few times.”

Dick waited, he knew his friend well enough to know that that wasn't all it was.

“Then a few weeks back Iris brought me along on one of her interviews. I don't know if she knew or remembered, but she was interviewing Oliver Queen.” His voice was dead as he said the name. Dick was wearing that expressionless mask again, waiting for the whole story before he made any judgements. “I didn't remember at first. Then I was out walking and this girl needed help and I couldn't do anything. Then, there they were Red Arrow and Green Arrow, full costume and everything. Iris writes her article and a week later they're dead.” Wally tried to say more. There were so many things that he needed to say but none of them seemed to want to come out.

“They're not dead.” Dick spoke quietly as if afraid to point it out.

“They might as well be.” Scorn filled his voice as Wally sank another inch or so into the couch. 

“Well, I meant more along the lines of it being him, not they.”

Wally picked his eyes up and looked at his friend questioningly.

Dick used the remote to wave at the still frozen TV. “They never mentioned Red Arrow.” Wally looked from his friend to the TV and tried to remember if that was true. Dick even rewound the clip and they watched it again from the beginning. He was right. There were a lot of subtle hints but no one actually said they had captured Red Arrow. 

“So you think.”

Dick nodded. “They don't have him.” 

They sat for a while in silence and just looked at the frozen screen or the coffee table or whatever was around.

“What do you think he'll do?” Wally's voice was hollow and he knew that there was a different question he should be asking, or maybe was asking. 'What should I do?' 

Dick just shook his head. He couldn't really understand losing a mentor. Sure he and Bruce weren't speaking any more but they each know that the other is alive. The possibility exists to make things right between them someday. 

Wally understood better, the loss that he must be feeling. Unlike Roy, though he never had anyone to blame, not really. Luthor may have pulled the trigger but it could have been anyone, the Lords never seemed to understand that.

Dick leaned over and took a good look at Wally and, like always, was able to read him like a book. “What about you?” There was no inflection to hint at disapproval or expectation, just the simple question. Wally knew he should have an answer. A part of him is still boiling, seething, just waiting for an opportunity to lash out. Everything that he's been keeping pent up for the two years since his uncle failed to come home was waiting just out of sight, a constant pressure over his senses. Another part of him tried to rationalize, hiding the fear he felt behind logic. The knowledge that no one would be able to fill the hole that had been torn open in his life.

He balanced between the two parts, waiting for something to push him over the edge to one side or another. He had been waiting on the cautious side of the fence for so long the thought of action was both exhilarating and fearful. 

“Don't know yet.” He answered after several minutes.

Dick nodded as if to say fair enough. “You want to be kept in the loop?”

It was a gesture that held all kinds of implications. Having Dick keep him informed of what was happening in the superhero circles could lead to all kinds of things, none of which would let him hide or make it easier to pretend it wasn't happening. Before, he probably would have declined, but now he nodded. 

“Yeah, thanks.” 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Wally only knew about it through the weekly calls that he's been exchanging with Dick since his midnight visit. The Lords are gone, all except Batman who has six prisoners locked up in the Batcave with another in high security at Archam. Dick only knows because he still had backdoor access to the systems in the Batcave. The world is running smoothly without them, at least for the moment. They have set up regular communications with the watchtower and everyone there is treating it like an outer space assignment. No one seems to realize that the Lords aren't dealing with some new threat from Apocalypse or helping out the Green Lantern Core. The idea of them going to another dimension never seemed to cross anyone's mind. 

Even Wally can't really picture it and Barry was a frequent time traveler so strange trips were not uncommon. He knew that every dimension was supposedly different in subtle ways but how would that earth be different from his own. He entertained ideas of worlds where the Lords were super villains, or where they had lost world war two and Nazis had taken over. What if Superman had never come to earth, or if his ship had landed somewhere else like Central Africa or somewhere in Russia? What if Batman's parents had never died or hardest of all to imagine, what if Barry had never been struck by that bolt of lightning?

When he first got the news from Dick he nearly jumped out of his skin. It felt big. Maybe it was just that he'd been out of the loop for so long that hearing about this kind of thing as it was happening was a big deal. It could be that it was just him jumping at things that weren't there, but it didn't feel like it. It had been a while since the last invasion but Wally still remembered that feeling of the world balancing on the edge, preparing for a change that could go either way. It felt like that now. 

When Dick had first called him about it they had both been on the edge of their seats. 

Dick had set up a shadow system to alert him any time one of the other Lords visited the cave. When the whole team had shown up he had triple checked that everything was working properly and that he was getting a live recording. He had watched in awe as Batman had explained to the rest of the Lords about the portal he had created. That was when he had called Wally. 

It had been a short fast conversation that had ended up with Wally taking Iris's car to Bludhaven, His roommates car again being unavailable and his own still not working. They had briefly considered just setting up a network between their two computers, or at least Dick had, Wally had no idea how that would work, but in the end decided not to. There was less chance of discovery if he just drove up there oddly enough and Dick wanted another pair of eyes to see all this in case Bats finally got fed up with the spying.

Arriving in Bludhaven Wally parked 8 blocks away on a side street that didn't have any cameras. Dick had made sure there was a loop going on the camera's by his back door. As far as they could tell Bats and thus the rest of the Lords wouldn't know Wally had ever been there. Not that they were likely to check any time soon, they seemed busy enough setting up whatever it was in the cave.

Passing through the kitchen Wally grabbed the whole box of sodas and followed the sound of typing into what might have once been a guest bedroom. 

the room had once been nice and cozy but now is filled with wires screens and high tech hard drives, plus other things Wally can't even name. Dick has clearly turned it into his own version of the batcave, although with less space and fewer flying rodents. Dick waves at him without looking and with one hand reaches over and types something on one of the five keybords set up within arms reach of him. Wally drops the sodas on a side table grabs a couple for the moment and looks over the various screens.

it's clear which one is the most important. it isn't the biggest in the room but it's centralized with a current view of the batcave as if its looking down from the ceiling. the members of the lords are there walking around and doing a number of things that Wally can't guess the purpose of at the moment. the rest of the screens are mostly showing different angles of the same view, though a few seem to be showing views of Bludhaven streets or buildings. even now Dick is still watching over his city.

Wally pulls a chair into the center of the room so he can watch over Dick's shoulder, and hand's his friend the soda. 

"Any idea what they are doing?"

"They're building a continent unit." Dick explains. "After Batman showed them the other universe they decided to help them but they don't think the Justice League, that's what the Lords from the other universe call themselves, the Justice League, anyway, our Lords don't think they would want the help. They're going to trap them and then try to convince them that our way is the right way." 

Wally just gaped for a moment, he tried to process the information but didn't really know where to start.

"There's something else." Dick turned for the first time looking Wally in the eye. "They're Flash is still alive." 

That nearly broke him, he wanted to scream and cry. Who cared about hiding he could run over there in moments and finally see his uncle again. finally tell him everything he'd been wanting to. 

"It's not really him." Dick's voice was barely a whisper but it got through. 

Wally turned to look at his friend opened his mouth to shout. "What's that supposed to mean? He's the Flash How would you feel if your parents came back? you can't, you could never understand what he means to me." he stops when he sees the hurt look in Dick's eyes. okay the remark about his parents had probably been too much. Still Dick didn't look away.

"Sorry."

Dick Shrugged. "even if it's him and not someone else, he'll probably have his own Wally, his own version of you." he looked back at the screen. "I don't think it's him though."

"What? Why?" Wally is nearly desperate at this point he needs to understand and he just doesn't and that tares him apart.

Dick types away at one of his keyboards bringing up a video clip on one of the secondary screens. Wally watches in amazement at the Lords in different costumes accompanied by the flash fight Lex Luthor who is dressed up in some kind of purple and green battle suit. They finally capture him and the Flash stops to talk with Superman. That's when Dick freezes the clip. Wally looks from him to the screen and back again but Dick just waits for him to make his own mind up. 

Wally forces himself to look beyond the bright red costume and lightning bolt insignia. it's true that the belt and the wings on the cowl are different but that could just be a difference of that universe. It could still be Barry. Then he looks at the face. It's true that the chin doesn't look quite right but really of all the heroes the Flash's cowl actually does a good job of hiding his identity, at least more then other costumes like his old Kid Flash goggles. 

he wants it to be Barry so much that he has to admit he could be fooling himself but really there's nothing that would definitely make it someone else. then Dick starts the clip again and Wally hears a voice that is definitely not Barry's.

"Sorry I messed up back there."

“Apology accepted, as soon as the damage is fixed.”

“Got a minute?” With that the Flash raced off around the room.

The clip ended with Flash a blur of red on the right half of the screen. Wally's first thought was, 'it isn't him'. Then he tried to deny the thought pointing out everything that made this man and the Flash he knew similar. In the end though he didn't know anything about this Flash from another dimension. That included whether he was Barry Allen or not. He said as much.

“Ok, he could be Barry Allen.” Dick admitted, “But you've got to understand that he will never be your uncle.”

He knew Dick was just trying to forestall any pain, and he took the comment as it was meant but that didn't mean it was easy to accept. 

 

Wally is finally pulled out of his thoughts again by Dick who is turning up the volume on the main screen. The Lords have finally finished setting up their contraption around the portal and with Batman at the controls J'onn J'onzz goes through the portal. It's almost half an hour later before he reappears, phasing through the outer shell of the containment unit. 

There are screams and one of the walls of the unit seems to cave outward. Even with four different angles on the scene he still cant tell what is going on. Only after they disassembled the containment unit, Green Lantern using his ring to carry six copies and one dead man out through the air to the cells waiting for them, did Wally realized what had happened.

The Justice League, the heroes of another universe had just been taken down in less then five minutes; and what tools had the Lords used to do it? Deception, lies, trickery. The same tools that everyone knew were were stock and trade for the bad guys.

“We've got to stop this.” his voice was low, but there was steel in it.

Dick looked back at his long time friend and for the first time in years recognized the spark in his eyes. “Wally, whatever you're thinking, stop. This isn't like when we were kids. For all we know these are the bad guys.”

“Not from what I saw.” Wally said glaring down at his friend.

“Ok, it's unlikely but just stop and think for a moment. There are only two of us going up against all the Lords, and you don't have any powers.” the last part was said as an accusation. At the very least Dick suspected Wally still had his powers, at most he already knew and as just waiting for Wally to tell him.

Wally was on his feet, though he couldn't remember standing up. He didn't bother answering the accusation. “I'm going.”

normally it would have been impossible for a stare off to go in Wally's favor. It was practically a rule that no one could out glare a bat, but in the end it was Dick who looked away.

“Alright, but if we're going to do this let's do it smart. Batman, Our Batman, isn't keeping the League in the cave.”

“He's not?” that seemed to derail Wally a bit. 

“You can't just hold people with superman level power in a normal cell.”

Dicks hands move over the keys and he turns back to the screen speaking as if in afterthought. “A containment unit like that would have to have full Lord approval for one and secondly would be a security rick. If he ever had to hold Superman or Wonder Woman and they managed to get out he wouldn't want the cave to be in the next room. They could rip through everything he's built. It would be off site, but still somewhere he could control. It'll be in Gotham.” Dick switched Keyboards and his eyes seemed to dance between several of the screens.

Wally tuned out the rest of his words. It wasn't like they were meant for him in any case. Instead he watched the League as they were manhandled by the Lords onto stretchers created by Green Lantern. Wonder Woman confided with Hawk Girl before picking up Hawk Girls counterpart and flying away and out of camera range. Batman was supervising the whole procedure, directing Green Lantern in creating specific constructs and outlining instructions for the others. Superman just stood there looking at the portal to the other world. 

When Batman was satisfied with the transport he turned to the others. Wonder Woman had returned and stood beside J'onn. Hawk Girl was of course the one to break the silence. Dick had muted that particular screen and the angle was wrong for Wally to try to read their lips, but there was clearly an argument going on. Superman was on one side with Wonder Woman trying to keep things civil and Hawk Girl and J'onn adding points when needed. Batman seemed to get fed up with the rest of them and left after a few minutes which seemed to end the argument for the moment. Not long later Green Lantern returned and as a group the five members of the Justice Lords went through the still open portal to another dimension.

It took Wally several relative minutes to realize what he had just seen and what implications it had. The Justice Lords were gone, all of them, except for Batman who was ether the most dangerous or the least depending on how you looked at it. Their protectors, dictators, lords, were gone. Wally reached sideways to get Dicks attention. He tapped his shoulder but dick was already speaking in a breathy voice that reviled his wonder.

“Yeah, I see it.”

They looked at each other for several tension filled seconds. 

“This is big.”

Wally nods.

Then they're both moving at once Wally grabbing his coat and heading for the door. Dick manages to stop him pushing a communicator into his hands. 

“I'll call you when I find out where the League is being held.” 

Wally nods, clips the communicator into his ear and again heads for the door. He'll take the car into Gotham city center. Running would be faster but he doesn't want to tip his hand early if he'll have to use his speed later.

 

~ * ~

 

Dick patches into his own security system and watches Wally leave. He could tell that the situation had been getting to him. He still wasn't used to being back in the game. Not that he really was back in the game. Dick had his suspicions in that department, but powers alone did not make a hero.

At this point Wally still didn't get what it was like to be a cape with the Lords up there in their space station looking down on the world. Maybe that was for the best. Wally may have been a different person now then the kid who used to run around in yellow and red tights, but in some ways he still had that innocent and optimistic personality. A lot of people had lost that in the two and a half years since the Flash had died.

It was really no wonder Wally didn't get what a key moment this was.

“What are you smiling about?” A screen to Dick's left goes black for a moment before the image of a stylized feminine face appears in green.

“Come on Babs don't pretend you weren't watching, I know you're hooked in to all my systems.” his tone is playful. He hasn't seen Barbra in far too long and it's good to hear her voice even if he knows this is a business call. That doesn't stop him from noting that she waited until Wally left before speaking up.

“It's not like you ever try to keep me out.” they both smile for a moment before she gets down to the matter at hand. “I assume you've been watching the current development?”

He nods, knowing that she's connected with his cameras by that point and can see the gesture. 

“What do you think?”

“To be honest I can't imagine what Batman is thinking.” Dick pauses then shakes his head before going on. “I don't understand why he built the portal at all.”

“You know that's not what I meant.” 

He turns to look down the the green face she uses as Oracle and for a moment it occurs to him that he hasn't seen her real face, even on a screen, in over two months. “If you say so?”

He can hear her take a breath even through the connection and knows her well enough to know she's choosing her words. They don't have a plan; her and the group she's helping. He suspects it's some kind of resistance movement but he doesn't have any proof and she's never come out and said it. This makes the third time she's asked if he wants to help.

“There are several things in the works.” Oracle finally said. “It's possible with a few more people we could make some real progress.”

Dick looks at his main screen where six members of the Justice League are now locked up, all of them still unconscious. “You want their help. Not mine.”

“They do have the raw power that would be needed, but what is truly needed in times like these are strong leaders.”

He let the silence stretch between them.

“Please, Dick.”

“I'm too close to Batman, no one would ever trust me.” 

“That's not true Dick.”

“Yes it is Babs. I can't be a hero, not openly, because everyone knows what heroes are like these days. I can't even go underground, join the resistance like Red Arrow because everyone knows who I was. I'm too close to the bat. No one trusts me. I don't even have superpowers and they think I'll end up dismantling everything they have. I can't even give in, leave it alone, ignore it, like Wally. I tried that and in the end all I could think was that every bad thing that happened around me was my fault because I didn't even try to stop it. Trust me babs just leave Nightwing out of your plans. It'll be better that way.”

She takes a breath to argue but they both know it's true. He decides to cut her off before this can go any further.

“Look, if I find anything, I'll send it your way.” he looks up at the camera and pretends he's looking into her eyes. “I miss you Babs. Maybe after all this is over we can sit down like old times.” before she can come up with any kind of response he closes off her connection ending the conversation. 

 

~ * ~

 

 

Oracle looked at the closed connection symbol displayed on her screen. She could hack back into his network but at this stage she didn't know that that would be a good idea. In truth she had other work to do. News of recent events needed to be spread. 

She and Dick were the only ones who knew Bruce's systems well enough to hack into the bat cave and since she had been in hiding ever since the Jokers attack on her father, ever since she had been paralyzed, Dick was the only one who was supposed to be active. Even her former partner Batman thought she was still in a coma. Dick may think that she was just talking to him to ask for his help but in truth she used him to keep track of things.

She ran down the list of people who could help spread the word.

Red Arrow toped the list of course. From what she had heard he was still injured from the attack that had cornered Green Arrow, but he was still the center of the resistance movement in Star City. The Lords had made a mistake there, forcing him underground would only make him more dangerous. Through him the resistance in other cities would be alerted, though she could speed up the process. She added Steel and Piper to her list and on a whim Vic Stone. She would also leave messages on various websites where it would be seen and the message passed on. 

Then there was the magical community. They were a bit harder to reach generally, but she had a few contacts. Zatanna was fairly reliable and the stage manager for her new Vegas show was one of those people who could do a hundred things at once and still manage to keep track of what was important. Madam Zanadu was her last contact for Dr Fate who had vanished about three months ago to deal with something otherworldly. The fortune teller also had various other contacts in those circles and would be able to pass on the message better then Oracle considering how few magic based people used computers. Jason Blood had secluded himself in Romania after the fall of Morgan LeFey but she added him to the list on the off chance that his demon wanted to come out of retirement. 

With the resistance and the Magic community she set about alerting those retired heroes and intellectuals who she considered both trustworthy and influential. Black Canary and Wildcat from the old Justice Society, Ted Cord, Ray Palmer, Ralph Digby, Michael Holt, Dr. Magnus, and Atom Strange were all added to her list along with people who could spread the word in other media: Allen Scott, Iris Allen-West, Lois Lane, Billy Batson and several people in hollywood like Matt Hagen and Jim Corrigan.

She sent out scores of emails, hinted on Blogs and in chat rooms, asked questions where she knew inquisitive minds would see and seek out answers. Very few people would actually know she was the source, that was the point. Oracle, like Batgirl before her, worked best from the shadows. The important thing was that the message was heard. 

Whatever actions were taken now would be up to them, she just hoped they would have enough time to act. 

 

 

~ * ~

 

 

Wally looked down at his decaf coffee and seriously considered switching to regular. Normally he wouldn't consider anything like that but after a night waiting on the edge and without sleep he was sorely tempted. At first he had been waiting eagerly for Dick's call circling likely neighborhoods and trying to guess what building he would need to infiltrate and how he would get past any security. Then the night had started to wear on and he had decided to park if only to save on gas. Only that hadn't worked to well because even though it was spring, after midnight it was still cold enough to frost the windows. After that he had taken to raiding the 7-11 and making odd playlists on his Ipod. At 4:45am he had given in and found the nearest greasy spoon.

The coffee was bad and the food, a greasy plate of french frys, was worse, but there was heat and Wally managed to amuse himself with a newspaper someone had left behind. The Sudoku was all filled in but the crossword was untouched. Wally didn't bother with the clues but filled in the boxes at random. He was still waiting for the call from Dick but at this point it was just something in the background. 

It was 7:53 when the call finally came, by that point the waitress had been giving him annoyed looks despite the fact that he did buy things and it wasn't like the place was crowded.

“Okay, I found them.”

“Great.” suddenly he was wide awake again. “What took so long?”

“Well, I actually found them a while ago but--”

“What, and you didn't call Why?”

“”I was getting to that. They're being kept in the lower levels of the secondary Wayne tower. But the primary way in is through the tunnels, and I know Batman has that way covered. They've taken Hawk Girl, the League Hawk Girl, to Archam, but I know you're more interested in Flash. I hacked in and I've been able to get stats, heart rate, blood work, all that, for most of them but I can't get visuals. This system has higher security and I've got to keep jumping to stay ahead of it. Batman has the whole thing locked up, this is high priority, hugely major even for him.”

“But they're ok?”

“As far as I can tell. There was some agitations and Flash's heart rate keeps fluctuation. Is that normal?”

Wally had to take a breath and actually consider the question. “I think so. I don't know. I think so.”

“Look, you can head over there but I need you to wait until I'm into the system before you go in, that way I can cover you okay?”

“Okay, the Wayne tower building. I'll call you back when I get there.” He left some money on the table and made a run for his car. It seemed like every red light caught him on his way there, and for the hundredth time recently he wished that he didn't have to hide his speed. If he hadn't been in Batman's city he might have even risked it especially with the knowledge that the other Lords were out of town so to speak. He finally reached the two wayne towers buildings, parking in one of the visitors lots and looking around.

It was odd. When he pictured one of Batman's lairs or a sneaky rescue mission he always came up with lonely buildings and mist filled nights, but here it was a fairly sunny spring morning outside a busy office building. Because of the restaurants on the top two floors It wasn't even like you had to check in if you wanted to go inside. Wally stuck the com back in his ear and spoke.

“Hey, boy wonder, you there?”

“Wally, there you are. I've been trying to get through to you for the past seven minutes. Something's happened.”

Wally's breath caught in his chest. He had heard that tone before, Dick was franticly trying to put things back together. Whatever had happened had come out of left field.

“What is it?”

“Okay, the league has escaped, I think the Flash had something to do with it since his vitals went crazy for a while there, but really I can't tell what's going on. I'm still locked out of the cameras and now that there's no one in the restraints I can't get any readings.” his voice fell to little more then a timid whisper. “there's a chance they are all dead.” 

“That's not possible.” Wally was adamant not just because he couldn't picture a teem that was basically the Lords dieing when the other option was they had escaped, but also because now that he was closer he could feel a second person drawing power from the speed force. A slight shadow fell over him and he managed to look up in time to see four figures take off from the top of one of the towers.

“I'll call you back.” he said before hanging up on Dick and again running for his car.

He had only the vaguest of ideas where these strange heroes would be heading. If he was being honest he was mostly following them by guesswork and gut instinct.it was a good thing then that part of following his gut included following the other person who was drawing on the speed force. They were going north. Wayne Manor was to the north but it was more north east and if anything they were heading north west so he ruled that out as their destination. He spent a few milliseconds running through the other options of where they could be going and what they might want to find or do before realizing the answer was obvious; they were going to Archam to find their Hawk Girl. With that information firmly in his grasp he made a sharp left turn and floored it.

The asylum was exactly advertised. There were plenty of tourist spots in Gotham but this wasn't one of them or at least it wasn't supposed to be one of them. Every so often people would go up there to creep themselves out or try to scare each other or on a dare, it was that kind of place. That didn't mean that the staff at the asylum advertised the place. The inmates tended to do enough of that already. For that reason there were no signs pointing to the building until you saw the marble archway and the blood red roses lining the drive.

Wally stopped his car down the road. At this point he was worried that if he had to look for parking he would miss whatever happened up there. 

His first real sight of them made him stop in his tracks. He had seen them in that clip of the other world of course but this was real. They were fifty feet away, all dressed up in red and blue and gold. This Wonder Woman still had long hair and Superman was in the red cape and blue tights that he remembered from when he was a kid. J'onns and GLs costumes weren't that different from what he was used to but the way they stood all in a group like that Wally could almost believe they were the people he had known as a kid, known and admired. 

Wonder Woman made a final comment and four of them: Her, Superman, J'onn and Green Lantern, took off towards the main building. Flash remained behind, wandering off to one side of the road and leaned against the wall there. He crossed his arms and looked around for something to do.

Wally could see the Flash turning to look his way and something inside him screamed at him to move, to hide, to do something other then stand there with a stupid look on his face.

Their eyes met.

Flash tilted his head a bit as if he wasn't sure what he was seeing. Flash started to blur forward and Wally unconsciously shifted into a higher gear to watch him stroll forward at what, to the two speedsters, was a fast walk, but to the rest of the world would have probably been too fast to follow. Flash stopped three feet from Wally and behind the mask his eyes widened as he took a good look at his counterpart.

“Whoa.” Flash rocked back on his heals and let out a laugh. “Well, so much for that theory. Flash dead, yeah right.” he had his hands on his hips by that point and a big smile plastered on his face.

“The Flash is dead.” Wally's face was a careful mask. Even in these short seconds he could tell this Flash wan't Barry Allen. Beyond that, saying Barry was dead while someone was standing in front of him wearing the costume was possibly the hardest thing he had ever done. It seemed disrespectful somehow.

Flash seemed to pause, looking at him again as if trying to catch him in the lie. “Right, because we are totally talking at normal speeds right now.”

Wally was slightly thrown off. He checked and realized that it was true he was tapping into the speed force, not a lot, just enough to understand Flash and keep up his end of the conversation. From what he could tell Flash was using almost three times the amount of power he was, and didn't even know it.

“Well, I'm not the Flash.” Wally finally managed to retort.

Again Flash looked at him in surprise. “umm, What?”

“I'm not the Flash, I never was. My uncle was the Flash.” his voice broke over the last words, not just because it was a sensitive topic but because he was also breaking the cardinal rule: never reveal someone's secret identity. Flash or not, the person before him was a stranger.

“Barry Allen.” 

Wally met the other man's eyes and for a moment thought he saw understanding there. The Flash took a long look around, well long relative to the two of them. As he turned back to Wally he reached up and pulled down his cowl.

Wally found himself looking into a copy of his own face and for a moment had a flashback to an adventure he had had as a kid where Mirror Master had created a bunch of copies of him. He was almost tempted to punch his counterpart just to see if he would shatter like those had.

Flash seemed to quickly get fed up with Wally's frozen surprise. He reached forward poking him in the chest and managing to snap him out of it. “Dude, you ok? I don't want to pull out the whole seen a ghost thing but I will if I have to.”

“Yeah,” Wally managed to nod and drag his eyes away from his counterpart. “I just didn't expect you to be me, well, you know.”

“I got that part. So, Barry?”

“What about him?” Wally was having trouble pulling himself back to reality.

“He was your Flash right? The one everyone seems to think is dead. The whole reason everything went wrong here? What I don't get is, if you're here, then why did it all happen?”

“Why did what happen? I couldn't have stopped him from dieing, I wasn't there. That was the Lords, they were the ones who didn't stop it.” He realized he was screaming at this alternate version of himself and turned away clenching his hands into fists.

“No, his death is not your fault. You're me and I know I would have died myself before letting him down. I don't know how it happened here but in my world he died saving everyone. This creature called the anti-monitor was ripping apart universes. We were all fighting him, but he had this power source that made him basically unstoppable. Then Barry found it and ripped it apart. He even managed to contain the backlash of energy, but he still died.” The Flash looked at Wally and without the cowl his face and emotions were an open book. Determination played the biggest part but there was also pain and understanding “Barry Allen was the greatest hero the world has ever known. I could never replace him, but every morning I get up and put on this costume because even though I can't be as good as he was, I can still help people. I can honor his memory. To me it was a no brainer, so why didn't you think of it?” 

Suddenly he seemed to realize what he was saying. “Sorry, it was just something I was thinking about. You probably have your reasons.” 

Wally wanted to answer his double, to tell him he had a good reason, that he couldn't have become the Flash, but everything he came up with seemed flimsy; a poor excuse now that the question had been asked straight out. 

“I was only 14.” was all he managed to say and even that came out more as a whimper then a sentence.

Flash didn't seem to hear him. He was distracted by an explosion from up the hill that sent robot scraps raining down around them. Suddenly the Flash had his cowl back on 

“Excuse me, I've got to go help my friends.” and he was gone, running up the hill. Wally let himself slow down to a normal human pace sending Flash from a person running to a red streak in the air.

Sirens alerted him to the incoming military unit. Wally scrambled off the road letting them pass. His head was a mess of hectic thoughts as he made his way back to his car. He sat there without turning the engine over for what seemed like an eternity. 

The voices in his head seemed to trip over each other. 'Only 14, not that it should have mattered. There was no choice. They wouldn't have let him anyway. They wouldn't have listened. They didn't listen to anyone, Lords of all creation. Nothing he could have done. Not then anyway, but now? Wally you are such an idiot. Stuck in the same old rut. No wonder Iris keeps trying to get you out of the house.' 

“Wally, Wally!” 

He finally realized that one of the voices wasn't in his head. It had been hard to tell since he had forgotten about the communicator.

“I'm here.”

“Finally, I was beginning to think you'd gone MIA. Listen, where are you?”

“I'm outside Archam.” he had to look around to make sure that was really where he was. He still felt like he was off in dreamland.

“Okay, you need to get out of there. I've been tracking Batman, our Batman, well both of them actually, they're headed your way. If they find you in the middle of all this bats will never let it go.” 

Wally couldn't help thinking 'too late for that', but he put the car in gear and tried to get out of the area without drawing too much attention. Dick kept him filled in as to what happened with Batman and the League.

Hours later Wally found himself sitting, parked, on some side street in the middle of a city he didn't know, watching the red glow of a Gotham evening settle over the crack of sky. It seemed like that stripe of red sky was all he could see, the whole world. A thought pushed it's self to the front of his mind.

“I need to go home.” he hadn't meant to speak the words out loud but there they were hanging int the air, and he knew that it was the truth.

“Wally? That you, have you got something?”

Was Dick still watching all this? What had he seen while Wally had been off trying to get out of his own head. He knew Dick had been filling him in but at this point he simply can't remember what he was told. He decided it doesn't matter. He knows what he's going to do.

“I'm going back to Central.”

He can almost see dick nodding on the other end of the line. “Kay, be careful.”

'careful of what? All I'm doing is going home.' the thought was light and joking with laughter hidden behind the words. It didn't feel like his own. Then he thinks of Flash. Not Barry for once but the other Flash, that alternate version of himself. Wally can almost see him lounging back in the passenger seat of the car. In wally's mind he has the cowl up but the smile in his eyes can still be seen. Wally let him sit there with the window rolled down and the evening settling in around them as he slid onto the highway, heading back to where he should have been all along. 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Batman found it hard to ignore the man in red who insisted on bombarding him with questions. This visiting Flash had been crude and obstinate before and he had expected the same now, but for whatever reason Flash seemed to have changed his opinion, or at least his strategy.

“So without your Flash the Justice Lords went rogue?” he didn't seem to believe it. He was even smiling as if the whole thing could only be one big joke.

“It wasn't quite that simple.” It wasn't exactly an easy subject to talk about for any of the Lords. After what had happened he felt the need to almost justify himself.

Flash seemed to pause for a fraction of a second before he tilted his head back that ridiculous grin plastered all over his face. “Hey, he was the conscience of your group, and that means I must be.”

“Come on, Jimminy” Green Lantern called from over by the portal. He was still holding the unconscious Hawk Girl and looked ready to pound someones lights out. Together the Justice League turned and flew or ran through the portal. His counterpart was last, the other Batman. The man he would have been if he hadn't gone too far. He see's that now and nods to his other half. There are no words, nether of them like talking in any case.

He knows he should be thinking, planning. He has a lot to do before the Lords return, but he takes a moment. In that fraction of a second before the Flash had spoken Batman had seen an emotion. Speedsters were hard to read, mostly because they could process their emotions a lot faster then the rest of the human race. Generally speaking you couldn't catch a speedster off guard. What then had been the expression on his face? Concentration, consideration, hesitation, determination, followed by a sudden switch to that goofy smile. He was hiding something was the conclusion Batman came to. What he might have been hiding and if it even mattered now that he had returned to his own dimension were questions he chose to set aside, for now.

Batman turned to his computer typing in a command that he knew by heart. A confirmation appeared on screen.

Slowly he took his seat at the controls settling himself in. When he was comfortable he turned and looked at a spot near the top of the wall where he knows the ripple in the stone hides a camera once planted by his adopted son.

“I hope you got all that.” he pauses, taking a breath before continuing. “I know you probably don't want to listen to me. I also know that you are most likely already planning a way to take advantage of the situation. I don't want to know what it is. I can't be seen helping you. I will try to level the playing field, but if you want to win this I'll have to be your enemy in the public eye. 

“When the Lords return there will be a fight, and if you want to change things you will have to win. No meaningful revolutions have ever occurred without bloodshed.”

He paused, just looking up at the camera for a bit.

“I never meant to drive you away Dick. If you ever feel like coming home I'll be here. Oh and I haven't closed down your log in to the files so stop hacking in, it's a pain to repair the firewall.”

He turned away without saying anything else. If Dick hadn't been watching at that particular moment, which was unlikely, then he would see the message when he looked over what had happened. He turned his attention to his own plans.

While the rest of the world would see him on the side of the Justice Lords, Batman had always considered himself on his own side, the side that made the hard choices. If whatever revolution Dick and Barbra managed to put together failed, he would be the one who would steer the others back to the right path. He was still of the opinion that earth needed heroes. There would always be threats that average men could not face. He would make sure things changed, the question was how they would change.

For the moment he needed to cripple his supposed allies. There was a chance, more then a chance, a likelihood. That Superman and the others would realize he had turned on them. How quickly that happened would determine what actions and safeguards he would need to put into place. 

He accessed his Watchtower account and set about preparing some surprises.

 

* * *

 

Barbra played back the video for a fourth time. She still didn't understand it. Not that she had ever really understood Bruce Wayne. There was a time she thought she had, but looking back, well it was hard to tell. She had already flagged the video on the off chance that Dick hadn't see it on his own. She had memorized the short sequence and still couldn't piece together what trick was being pulled, what angle was being played. 

She taped at a pair of keys, pausing the video as the two Batmen looked at each other. She had spent nearly an hour piecing together the fight they had had. It had seemed like the Lord Batman had won that one, but by the time they returned things had changed. The body language was subtle, but the League Batman was the one in control. How had that happened? How was it possible? What did it mean? 

She couldn't think. What should she do? If she took advantage of the situation, gave everyone another heads up, told them now was the time to act, then what? A: it was a trap and things would go terribly wrong. B: it wasn't a trap and they could do some good. C: there was some factor that she was overlooking and everyone would end up dead. D: Batman was telling the truth but the Lords returned in the middle of things and--

She stopped, forcing her mind back to the facts. No matter what the future held there were only so many things she could do in this moment. She had a piece of information. She could share it, or keep it hidden. 

If she shared it, it would allow her defenders to watch for any traps set for them. Batman would no longer be trusted by the Lords, or his supporters in the government. In effect a good section of his power bace would be cut out from under him.

Batman had Subtly asked Dick, and through Dick her, that they not tell anyone. On the other hand Batman had been her enemy for nearly 2 years now. She didn't trust him anymore, then again that was the problem, she had trusted once. There was a time she would have acted in a stupidly clichéd manner at his slightest suggestion. 

Unlike Dick she hadn't had a big fight with Bruce. She had been taken out of the action before it'd come to that. She had seen what the Justice Lords had become. She had seen how easily Bruce had fallen into that trap, and all the while she had thought it was some kind of plan on his part. It had taken her a long time to admit to herself that he might not know what was happening.

If facing his alternate self had somehow brought their Batman back, had somehow opened his eyes to what was happening then it was possible that he could be the greatest asset in this fight. Not only was he perfectly placed as a spy but he had all the knowledge to perfectly sabotage anything the Justice Lords did. Add to that the fact that the Justice lords already thought he was strange, and secretive, would lead them to initially discount any evidence against him. Most people wouldn't trust Batman of course, that was a given. 

She couldn't reveal the video itself, and even if she did very few people would realize the significance, or know Bruce well enough to see it. If she was truly seeing what she thought she was that is, his acting skills had fooled her before. That bit at the end though.

She leaned forward and hit a few more keys watching as the film moved forward. Again she watched Bruce stare into the camera, and listen as he talked to his lost son. It had not been a small thing when Dick had moved out. Barbra had seen it from Dick's side, now she was seeing it from Bruce's.

With a short gesture she closed the video. It might just be false hope, but she wanted to believe it anyway. She wanted to believe he could see his mistakes and change for the better. Not that she wouldn't keep an eye on what he was doing. She still had the video if she needed it. Maybe that had been his plan. To show just enough compassion to earn an offer of trust, softly manipulating them into not wanting to shoot him, even as he handed them the gun.

She hesitated, then forced her hands back down to her lap without typing. Manipulation or not her choice was made. Better if she didn't start second guessing herself.

She turned her focus and skill towards the matter of the resistance.

Over the past few days a series of medical supplies had been stolen from Star City Medical. They were in small enough quantities and at such times that the system wouldn't alert anyone of the disappearance. That also made it easy to trace back to a single culprit: Amy Rodgers. According to JL files she was a known resistance sympathizer. Oracle knew for a fact that she was more then that. In truth she was a ranked member who used her background in medicine to coordinate information and patch up anyone who needed it. In this case Oracle was confident that the patient was Red Arrow. He had managed to escape the Lords but that didn't mean he had escaped injury. 

With Red Arrow out of action the Star City branch of the resistance would shift to the defensive. They would get her first message, most likely they already had. With the knowledge that the big guns were out of the picture they wouldn't be inactive, they would just make more conservative moves. High end thefts would go up as they stockpiled supplies and equipment. Oracle would do what she could to help them but without revealing herself overtly there wasn't much.

Other areas wouldn't be so cautious. Reports were already coming in from Dakota where the Lords lieutenant Static was being hard pressed. Satellites were picking up strange signals coming from the african jungle near where Grod had last been sighted. The amount of international traffic jumped, as people took chances they didn't think they'd get again. Authorities in all areas were being overwhelmed and more then a few villains would take advantage. There were plenty of criminals the Lords had never managed to round up. Oracle was one of only a few that would be able to differentiate between the freedom fighters and the criminally minded. However, since the others were all evil, out of the picture or working for the government, she had a lot of work to do. 

 

* * *

 

Wally looked around his dorm room. There was something off and he couldn't quite figure out what. It was cleaner then normal but that was to be expected when he spent time away. He spent a minute searching around for the right word to describe how the room looked. Gray, he finally decided, the room looked gray.

Wally had never really bothered decorating before even though he had been living there for over six months. He had never bothered to get any posters and there were a grand total of two pictures in the room, both of which sat on his small desk rather then hanging on the walls. The one real splash of color was his bedspread. He had had the red Flash comforter for ages and hadn't bothered to get a new one when he'd gone off to college. By this point the yellow lightning bolts were nearly warn away completely while the red was pale and threadbare.

College Dorm rooms weren't exactly built with interior design as major factor, if anything it was the opposite. Why then, hadn't he noticed it before? He hadn't even replaced the curtains; everybody replaced the curtains.

Wally stepped forward ripping the offending fabric from it's hooks. Immediately the room lit up, beams of gold catching the swirling clouds of dust in the air. It was a beautiful day. Wally had always liked summer, the energy and joy and life filling up the days to bursting. With all the recent events he hadn't even noticed that May was ending fast.

He stepped forward prying the window open and openly breathing in the warm dry air. It really was a beautiful day. Wally had statistics on Thursday afternoons. He should've been getting ready for it, but just thinking about spending two hours in that stifling basement classroom put him to sleep. No, he decided, it was too nice a day to waste. Leaving the curtains forgotten over the back of his desk chair, he grabbed his bag and headed out into the afternoon.

The CCU campus was a sprawling affair that stretched from the river at one end all the way to Westminster Field. The buildings were mostly old two-story affairs built of bleached stone. Wide lawns were spread between the buildings like carpet, occasionally dotted by enormous old trees. On a day like this one, with an endlessly blue sky and just the right balance of warm sun and cool wind, the whole campus, students and faculty alike were out enjoying it, or wishing they were.

Wally found himself heading for the river. The running trail along the bank had lured many people into leisurely strolls. Nearly every bench was full of people laughing, talking, reading, and just plain enjoying life. Someone had a remote control boat out in the center of the river. A hot dog vendor was rushing to fill the orders of people who were too lazy to go the two blocks to the cafeteria. A little farther on Wally found a crowd of ducks gathered near the water's edge, the remains of hot dog buns were being thrown to them by a trio of freshmen girls. Cute freshmen girls, in white t-shirts. He smiled at them.

“Hey there.”

One of them, a brunet with large hoop earrings, smiled back. Her friends rolled their eyes and giggled. The brunet waved to someone behind Wally. A likely boyfriend held a pair of sodas, and Wally decided to move on. 

He finally found a spot in the shade of the Hanman building. The little patch of grass was tucked away behind a pair of trees out of sight of the running trail. Flopping down on the grass Wally closed his eyes. He was out of sight of the water, but he could hear it from where he lay, mixing with the talk, laughter and birdsong. Just laying there was wonderful, and could only have been made better if he had thought to actually buy a few of those hotdogs. Maybe on the way back.

“Oh.” 

Wally opened his eyes at the voice. It was Linda Park. His voice fled along with all the smooth lines that he could normally pull out of a hat at a moment’s notice.

“Sorry, I didn’t think anyone else knew about this spot.” She paused, hesitating, as she looked back towards the path.

Wally had panicked. The girl he had secretly crushed over for two full terms was actually speaking to him. She had recognized that he existed, even if it was only in passing. His control slipped, and suddenly he was seeing things in slow motion. Linda was turning, shifting her weight onto her back foot. As she turned her head, her hair swept across her neck in a silk wave. He saw her front foot clad in a practical summer sandal slowly draw up off the ground, doing interesting things to the shape of her leg.

"Wait, don't go." Wally flushed as the words bypassed his brain. He stammered, trying to find an ending to the sentence that didn't sound completely desperate. "I mean, well, there's plenty of room. If you don't mind sharing that this." God, that sounded lame.

She turned on her heel, looking down at him and the small patch of grass. He could practically see the words forming on her lips as she concocted a polite excuse. Only, she stopped before the words came out. For a moment she pursed her lips looking at him then she spoke.

"Are you in one of my classes? You look really familiar."

Wally had to force himself not to use the speed his limbs had tapped into. He couldn't look at her, couldn't see every micro-expression that played across her incredible features. He forced his breathing down to a reasonable rate and waited a full 5 seconds before he responded.

"Sociology, with Mr. Finch."

"Of course, you did that presentation." She took two steps forward and let her bag fall onto the grass. "You're, Wally right?"

Wally just nodded, to dumbstruck, or nervous to string words together. She sat down a few feet from him, and began rummaging around in her bag pulling out textbooks. Wally took the opportunity to pull himself together. Okay, so she was actually talking to him, people talk to people all the time, no big deal.

Linda flipped open a laptop, and use her bag to prop up her textbook. Wally tried not to stare. After several minutes he managed to relax. It was like they were back in class. She carefully taking down notes, while he watched and doodled in the margins of his notebook. He found himself looking at her textbook, reading the title backwards and upside down: Basic Chemistry.

"Tyler or Lee?" Once again his mouth had moved without consulting his brain.

"Excuse me?" She blinked up at him. The question had clearly come as a surprise.

He glanced away and tried not to look as embarrassed as he felt. "Your class, basic chemistry, do you have it with Mr. Tyler or Mr. Lee? "

"Lee,"

He nodded, still not looking at her. "Lee's good. He can get a bit wordy and technical sometimes but he really knows his stuff. Well, I guess he can get a little impatient with the lower-level stuff sometimes. He normally teaches upper-level classes but someone went on sabbatical or something and he had to fill in. If you can get a hold of John though, he's the teaching assistant, he's really good at answering questions." By that point Wally wasn't thinking about what he was actually saying, he just couldn't seem to stop. Talking was somehow easier then just sitting there.

“You seem to know a lot about it.” Linda had slipped in her comment while he was taking a breath, and it derailed his train of thought.

“umm, I guess.” he tried to pick up the pieces of the conversation but he hadn't really had a point that he could fix on.

“Are you a chemistry major or something?” she was smiling, teasing him almost. It made him blush as red as his Flash t-shirt.

“Physics actually.” the CCU physics department was known for three things: being the best in the nation at what they did, being complete nerds and the ritual of blowing up watermelons every spring break. Linda burst into laughter, throwing her head back in a gesture that held no trace of self-consciousness.

"What?" He asked after her laughter had started to wind down.

"You just, don't seem the type." She stopped, and looked at him, really looked. Wally tried not to blush any deeper, running his fingers through the grass in an attempt to hide his fidgeting.

"I don't?"

She shrugged and finally stopped looking at him. "You don't seem like the type to stay locked up in a lab all day."

"Oh hell no." Once again his mouth took off without permission. "Being stuck in a lab all day without any real light or fresh air, I'd go crazy in minutes." He paused, but there was a slight smile on his face. This time, he decided not to stop himself. That other Flash hadn't hesitated, and frankly Wally was tired of putting on the brakes. Time to live a little.

"What I'm really interested in is kinematics, or at least that's what I'm good at.”

“I’ll bite, what’s kinematics?”

“It’s the geometry of motion.” This was an area where he could be confident. His face and voice lit up as he spoke. “How planets orbit or how rain falls. How a boat will move through water or a runner...” He trailed off his gaze focused somewhere in the middle distance. “It’s actually sort of complicated, lots of numbers. What about you?" Wow, that hadn't sounded that.awkward in his head.

She waited for a moment, as if he might explain the sudden change of topic. When he didn't, she set it aside, and answered his question.

"Actually, I'm pre-med." She had her chin thrust forward, and if she had been standing she would no doubt have planted her feet. The pre-med department tended to have an old-fashioned view of things. Linda had probably been told to go back to nursing school more than once.

"Wow, I bet you would be a great doctor." Wally smiled trying to appease her. To be honest he had already known her major, which only proved how much of a stalker he was.

She seemed surprised for a moment at the lack of resistance, but she recovered quickly. "Thank you."

They sat and talked about nothing important for the next two hours. It was quite possibly the best afternoon Wally had had years. As the heat of the afternoon drained away into evening, the students on the running trail became less numerous.

Linda shivered. The shaded been nice when the sun was overhead, now, not so much. Linda closed her bag, chapter curse, a bunch of little hints. She was going to leave. Wally didn't want this afternoon to end, but she did have a point. He pushed himself to his feet all angles and long limbs.

"Walk you back to the dorm?" He offered her a hand up.

She took it. "Hey, careful mister. You're starting to act like this is some kind of date." There was a sparkle in the back of her eyes even though she was carefully not smiling at him.

"Oh darn, well, a guy can dream."

During that short walk he felt alive. He felt like he did when he was running, seeing the world in all its perfection. For once, he was happy to take his time.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

Justice League universe, Lord Superman:

Luthor had escaped again, taking a hostage and threatened to unleash some version of the normal take over the world plan, typical. That man was mad dog, always had been. This world’s Superman, this other version of himself was still trying to fix it. There was no fixing it though, he had tried. The only solution was amputation. The other Superman was treating the symptoms rather than dealing with the disease.

 

Well, he would deal with that.

 

He didn't bother with the door when they got to Strikers. He didn't even have to x-ray the building to find Luthor's cell. The man was in and out of prison so often that Superman had memorized the location of the cell he was kept in. He brushed the wall aside. Standing in the air with his arms crossed. He glared at Luthor as the others finally caught up.

 

They entered the cell together; five of the world's strongest heroes facing down one worthless, disgusting dog of a man. Superman stalked forward grabbing a fistful of the prison uniform and effortlessly lifting Luthor onto his toes.

 

"Where's the hostage?" Superman wanted to pound Luthor's head into the concrete, smearing his brains all over the floor, but he maintained control. He kept his voice at a normal level, and apart from lifting him off the ground he only used a normal level of human strength. Luthor didn't even seem to notice, damn that smug indifference of his.

 

"There never was one." The tones started out as those Superman remembered. Then they deepened slightly and the smug satisfaction that was always just a degree away from mania was replaced by a deep stone calm. Superman twitched, releasing his hold as Luthor took a step back and seamlessly shifted into the form of J’onn, the Martian Man Hunter of the Justice League.

 

J’onn smiled, actually revealing a touch of emotion as he spoke. "Sorry."

 

Only then did Superman realize what was happening. He struck out at the Martian Man Hunter, but his opponent had already gone intangible slipping away through the floor. Lightning blossomed from the walls, arcing to hit each of them before they could move.

 

It was a good trap, the same one they had used to capture the Justice League in fact. The pain lessened as Hawkgirl lifted her mace, using it as a lightning rod.

 

The battle against the League had been unexpected. That didn't mean they hadn’t been ready for it of course, but they weren't left with a lot of time to analyze the situation. Superman had found himself fighting the Flash, with all the others fighting their doubles. With Lord Batman still back on their own world they were outnumbered 5 to 7.

 

It'd been a long time since Superman fought anyone who came close with matching his max speed; Flash was all that and more. Luckily though, Superman had other powers he could rely on. Flash pelted him with debris from the wall that Hawkgirl had smashed through. He threw the chunks of concrete at the rate of a Gatling gun leaving Superman no time to counterattack. No real damage was being done, but that wasn't the point.

 

Then Flash reached down for more ammunition and came up empty.

 

"Uh-oh."

 

Superman was getting used to the faster battle speed. He wiped the dust from his eyes, glaring at his opponent, and charged. With every punch he got faster, but Flash was always one step ahead, taunting him.

 

“Right here big guy."

 

With his next punch Flash caught his arm, adding to his already considerable momentum until Lord Superman found himself head over heels in the air. He went through one layer of concrete finally stopping on the next level down. Concrete, rebar, and what might've once been a bookcase did their best to pin him down. Then Flash was there, again, mocking him. As if Superman couldn’t take him apart with a single touch. Flash never took anything seriously, so short-sighted. Never realized what he was running head long into. It was attitudes like that that let villains like Luthor escape again and again.

 

“Wow Supes, you really know how to bring down the house."

 

And the jokes, the endless list of lame one-liners, Superman had almost managed to forget about those. Did he honestly have no ability to judge the situation?

 

Superman kicked the bookcase off of him sending Flash colliding with the wall. Superman was there in the next instant grabbing fistfuls of the red costume and holding Flash off the ground so he couldn't use his speed. Only then did Flash start to take the situation seriously.

 

He looks from Superman's fist to his face. The opaque white lenses of his mask met Superman's ice blue eyes. "Can't do it, can you? I'm your last chance, and this is the one thing you'll never do."

 

In a way The Flash was right. Superman would never kill one of his companions. The Flash had been his ally, but that had been his Flash, not this other-world imposter. The real Flash had died with honor, not pleading, trying to talk his way out of his problems. This man was a disgrace to his memory.

 

"I’ve done a lot of thing’s I thought I’d never do these last two years. One more won’t hurt.”

 

Superman saw Flash’s eyes widen, and a surge of satisfaction went through him. Superman had finally gotten through to him, finally broken through that shell of cheap talk.

 

"Hold it."

 

Superman turned. His double was standing at the edge of the hole in the roof. A moment later another figure joined him, Luthor. It was the real man this time he could tell by that smug, superior expression. The League's Superman was standing there beside him like they were brothers. Disgusting.

 

“Nice company you're keeping. Must be your true colors." He met the eyes of his other self and silently urged the man to see reason. He could still do the right thing, destroy that piece of garbage once and for all. Clean the slate of everything that man had built. Save your world. But instead League Superman spoke.

 

"It's just one of the hard choices I've had to make today."

 

Yes, I know it's a hard choice, but it's the only thing that will end this, it's the only thing that will finally finish it.

 

The League's Superman turned to Lex Luthor. "Go for it."

 

No!

 

“Oh yes.” Luthor's voice was molasses and brandy, smooth and thick.

 

Superman knew that Luthor was enjoying this, and if Lord Superman's counterpart wouldn't do what needed to be done, then he would. They would all see that it was the best choice in the end. He launched himself at his enemy.

 

Faster than a speeding bullet wasn't faster than Lex could pull the trigger of his strange device. The energy beam hit him straight on. It wasn't kryptonite, and it wasn't red sun radiation; he bowled forward trying to shrug off the strange radiation. Only, it didn't work. A moment later the energy had stolen his momentum, draining his strength. His concentration slipped and he started falling. He hit the ground and tried to stand, but the beam was relentless.

 

A moment later his counterpart was standing above him. "It's a power disruptor and yours are now gone."

 

Lord Superman reached out to his counterpart. He wanted to scream at him, to show him just how much of a fool he was for trusting a spineless worm like Luthor. Gravity pulled him back down, locking him onto the earth.

 

He felt weak, as weak as he had ever felt. His eyes could barely focus. Sounds were easier, only there were so few of them, it felt like his senses were dead. A dark figure, Batman at a guess, shifted his hands behind his back and helped him stand.

 

Luthor’s voice cut through the haze he was in and gave him something to focus on. "This would be so sweet, but a deal is a deal."

 

"What deal?" That was Green Lantern, but not his Green Lantern.

 

The other Superman answered, "A full pardon in exchange for his help."

 

Superman threw himself at his counterpart. Weak as he was, Batman managed to hold him back, but that didn't stop him from speaking. "Everything he does from now on is your fault."

 

"It's a high price, but it's better than the alternative."

 

His emotions were boiling, screaming that the League’s Superman was wrong. Then, they just melted. It was over. They had lost, no, he had lost. He was so tired. He let Batman pull him away.

 

Lord Superman was loaded into the back of a vehicle along with the rest of his team, if they could still be called that. It had been a long time since he hadn’t been in control of any situation he was a part of. It had been a long time since he had been forced to react to a situation rather than being the one acting.

 

With nothing to distract him but the movement of the vehicle, the pain he was in crept up to overwhelm him. It had been a long time since he felt any pain at all. He didn't know how to deal with it. It felt like he was falling, and no matter how he tried, he couldn't fly.

 

 

 

 

 

Once, Batman would've been the undisputed second-in-command of the Justice Lords. After he had distanced himself from the rest of them, Diana had filled that role. At least, she had at first. Later on she had become more introspective. She knew how to fight a war. She knew how to lead a nation. What she didn't know was if this was where she wanted to lead them. Her home had always been peaceful, locked away from the world of men. The faith of her sisters had been such that they were always protected. These people had no faith, not as a world, not even as a single nation.

 

Without faith to empower them the gods could not act to protect their followers. She and the other Lords had stepped forward when protectors had been needed. They had taken the place of the gods. When taken individually she would still agree with the actions they had taken, but when she looked at the whole it was with fear in her heart. Every night she would pray to do the gods will, pray that the gods had a plan for her actions. She prayed she hadn’t lost them.

 

In her hesitation she lost the leadership that had been hers without even realizing it. Lantern took charge in the field. She was just Wonder Woman.

 

She had started spending more time is Diana after that realization. It was easier to just be Diana. She wished she was just Diana now.

 

When the Justice League took them away, loaded them into the prisoner van and locked them in, she knew that despite her prayers she had lost the gods favor. She felt paralyzed. Every movement was a struggle to fight off the lethargy. It was a battle she was loosing, mostly because she didn’t feel she deserved to win.

 

She looked at her fellows, sitting there in the dark. Shyera and J’onn were both unconscious. The former lay on her side, her wrists handcuffed to the bench. Her wings so limply into the aisle. The latter hadn't even been given that small consideration. J’onn had been tided to his seat, arms pinned to his sides. He hung from the straps in a visibly uncomfortable manner.

 

The others were off in their own world. John sat muttering under his breath, his eyes dancing behind closed lids. Superman was tucked away into one corner. His posture was purely defensive, shoulders hunched, eyes unseeing but aware.

 

Had there ever been a time when the Lords had been this beaten? Even in the beginning when they were first figuring out how to work together they had never been beaten this badly. Even with all the mistakes they had made, it was all so perfect back then. There were so many bittersweet memories.

 

Dancing with Bruce at the Wayne foundation charity Christmas dinner four years ago. Seeing that sly smile of his before knowing who he really was. Flash dragging her around Central City, pointing out all the best restaurants, and introducing her to the wonders of malted milkshakes. Standing on a roof top overlooking the Gotham city lights. The wind whipping through her hair, whipping away Batman's words before she could hear them. Watching Casablanca on a summer evening in Metropolis Central Park while Clark made his way through a seemingly endless supply of popcorn. Sneaking away from the endless small talk of the high-class social events, only to find that she wasn't the only one seeking solitude on the roof top or in the garden. The girls nights with Shyera where they would swap off painting each other's nails, and exchanging fighting techniques. Visiting Wayne Manor for the joys of Alfred's cooking, and the inevitable appearance of Bruce in a state of grumpy dishevelment. Swapping stories with John about their homes, the people they had left behind, and the new things that their travels had exposed them to. Caught up in battle, Batman's back pressed against hers as they rode the knife edge of adrenaline. Discussing theology with J’onn. Learning about the gods of Mars, and seeing him respond in kind to her own faith. A quartet playing something classical as Bruce led her through a waltz. The ache of sore muscles after a hard practice or a fulfilling evening. Hearing Batman's voice over her comlink, despite the fact that everyone on the team knew what to do. Watching the light play over the earth from the Watchtower's Observatory. Sensing movement in the dark, and letting excitement overwhelm her, rather than the more rational fear.

 

She found herself yearning for his presence. Bruce had been there for so many important moments. His presence was a stone, an anchor in her storm tossed life. Among all of them he was always the one who knew all the details, who had worked out all the problems. Bruce had a million different plans for any situation, each one a different way to set things right. They had all gone to him, depended on him at one time or another. She more so than the rest.

 

Diana saw Bruce as Apollo's dark brother, as Hades bright son. He was a beacon in the darkness, needing no light source to cast his shadow. Like Janus, two-sided, dark and light, broken and a whole, all in one man. How could she possibly do anything less than love him?

 

She had never said it. He would never let anyone get that close. That didn't stop her from thinking of him in her dark hour.

 

Please gods. She doubted anyone was listening, but if she still had any of their favor she had to try. Give me any punishment, she prayed. I lay myself at your feet, at your mercy, but if you have any compassion let me see him. Just once more before the pain, before the death that I deserve, let me see him. I have tried to serve you, despite all my mortal faults. If I have ever done your will, if I have ever earned your favor, grant me this small request.

 

The van rolled to a stop. There was a minute of relative quiet before the doors swung open. A tall dark figure stood there, silhouetted harshly against the violent orange light. Diana tried to roll her head, squinting at the figure, but it was so hard, so pointless to try to move at all. The doors swung shut the latch falling into place like the gates to Hades own realm.

 

Voices spoke outside, familiar voices. She didn't bother trying to pick out what they were saying, or who the voices belonged to.

 

Shyera groaned as she fought her way back to consciousness. She tried to bring her hand up, but was stopped by the cuffs. She muttered something in Thanagarian, and nearly fell off the bench as she tried to sit up. Again the handcuffs stop her.

 

Diana watched Shyera struggle. Diana's hands had been bound, but she could have leaned forward enough to give her friend some assistance. The thought managed to sink through the mire that had drowned her mind, but when she considered moving it felt like her limbs had been encased in lead.

 

Shyera struggled for a few minutes, before going limp. Her head slowly side until it was resting on the seas again. With her back to the isle Diana couldn't guess at her expression, but it couldn't have been that far off from anything the rest of them were feeling.

 

Outside the conversation ceased. Other cars could be heard pulling away, leaving. Then someone put the van into gear and Diana was reminded of her situation. Her head fell. She was so cold. All this darkness was too much, she was losing herself.

 

Pressure began to build between her shoulder blades, turning into a slow dull ache. Some amount of time passed, she honestly didn't care how much. The difference between minutes and centuries didn't matter to a dead man.

 

Lantern slowly grew more twitchy. Shyera again tried to sit up, her wings dragging her down again. Superman remained isolated. J’onn remained unconscious.

 

When the van pulled to a stop a second time Diana had grown so disconnected that she wasn't sure it was really happening. Then the doors to the van opened, and she was confronted with a perversion of her desire. The Justice League Batman quickly took in the five of them. Without saying a word he stepped forward giving his attention to Shyera while remaining aware of the others.

 

John had stopped muttering, his posture stiff as he glared at Batman. Superman didn't seem to have even noticed. Shyera let Batman undo her bonds without protest or retaliation. She glanced at John once after she had managed to sit up, but didn't hesitate when Batman started leading her away. Diana noted that her wings were still dragging limply on the ground. A minute later Batman returned for the next of them.

 

One by one Batman led them away. He had John carry J’onn when it was their turn, and so stifled any retaliation from the former Green Lantern. Then it was Diana's turn. Even with Batman directing her shackled form she found it hard to move. She had thought it would be easier if she wasn't the one in control, making the decisions. The thin, ill lit corridor she was led down ended in a room where the others were waiting. The double security doors were a precaution that was practically overkill considering none of them had powers anymore.

 

As Batman left to fetch the last member of their team Diana found herself staring at the off-white windowless walls. It would have been impossible to tell where they were, even if she had cared to put any effort into it. Batman returned with Superman. Shoving Superman forward into the room he closed the door locking and sealing them in.

 

Was that it then? Was this the end? Would they just be locked away until they died, forgotten? Would Batman let them suffocate, or were they to be prisoners? If the latter, why not give them each their own cell?

 

The questions slowly tapered off, even within Diana's own mind. It wasn't like she expected or wanted an answer to any of them.

 

It was hard to tell time without any reference, but she didn't think it was that long before the far wall lit up with spiraling silver light. A portal, out of this dimension. There was no guarantee it would lead back to their own world. Batman didn't seem to care if they left or not. He hadn't stuck around to force them through the portal, but then again he hadn't left them many options if they didn't.

 

Diana didn't move towards it. She just shifted her head a bit, waiting for Superman or GL to make a decision. Lantern didn't hesitate to take charge. He shifted J’onn to support a bit more of his weight. The Martian was still unconscious. Shyera traded a look with John and they both started for the portal. Superman looked up as they passed, appearing to notice his surroundings for the first time. He was squinting, shielding his eyes, but he seemd to understand what was happening.

 

Diana had been closest to the portal when it had first formed. Now the others were passing her, stepping into the silver light and a vanishing. She hadn't made a choice. She didn't want to. She didn't have any hope that the world on the other side of that portal would be any better than the situation she was in now. She was so tired. Would it really be such a terrible thing to lie down there on the floor and not get up?

 

She looked at the portal. Taking the three hardest steps of her entire life she stepped through it, to whatever fate the gods had dictated for her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you own anything other than red shirts?"

Linda's comment made Wally look down at the shirt. It was indeed red, and now that he thought about it he did have several duplicates in his closet. It also had a large flash emblem splashed across the chest, because you just couldn't buy a red shirt in Central City without that particular feature. Not that Wally minded. From his point of view there were only two people alive who were truly entitled to wear a shirt like this: Jay Garrick, and himself.

"What's wrong with my shirt?"

Linda rolled her eyes and spoke slowly as if that would help him understand somehow. It was both cute, and completely infuriating.

"Wally, you were wearing that exact shirt last Thursday. You were then wearing that shirt again last Monday and again when I saw you in sociology yesterday. Since you are wearing it again today, I have been forced to come to the conclusion that you own nothing but copies of that shirt. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here and assuming you haven't been wearing the exact same shirt three days in a row."

"You're ignoring the third option," he said, I sly grin creeping into his voice. "Maybe I washed this shirt each night just to confuse you."

She burst into laughter, causing his heart to do a quick double beat in response.

"No offense Wally but I don't think that's the case." The way she was looking at him, like he was some cute little kid was annoying and endearing at the same time. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're kind of a spaz."

"I am not." His reply came almost before she had finished speaking.

He was going too fast again, and apparently she had noticed. He couldn't help it though. After all this time he should be able to control his own superpower, he had enough practice at it. It had been harder though, ever since he came back from Gotham. It was like the lethargy that had held him for the past two years had slipped, it's grip weakening. Things were happening, big things.

Even here in Central and Keystone, people were talking. For the past two years the Twin Cities had pretended the rest of the world didn't exist for the most part. Now they were abuzz with talk and the crackle of summer lightning.

Wally should've been ignoring it. That was how he had survived the past two years. Only, he just couldn't. Every time he tried to zone out he would start feeling like he had disappointed someone. At first he thought it was Barry, but that wasn't quite right. If that had been the case then he would've felt it for more than just the past several days.

He needed to talk to Iris. She could help him figure this all out. Unfortunately, she was still angry at him for taking her car all the way to Gotham without any warning. He really should have just run up there when the League was captured.

He was doing it again, thinking like a speedster. Thinking of himself as a speedster even. When everything settled down he was going to go nuts thinking like that. A normal person didn't just jump in the car and drive for several hours on a spur of the moment decision. A normal person wouldn't be analyzing every decision he made for the past two years over one offhand comment. A normal person wouldn't be getting strange looks from the girl they liked for acting like such a total spaz.

Linda was right, he was such a total spaz.

"Okay, maybe I can be a little bit of the spaz sometimes…."

She laughed, tilting her head back in a sound that was pure joy. She was beautiful. She didn't even seem to notice, which only seemed to underline it. Wally could not get over the fact that a girl this hot was hanging out with him. He wasn't bad looking but Linda was in a league of her own.

"Are you doing anything on Saturday?" Oh damn, he had actually said that out loud.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Wally."

"It's nothing."

She waited, her mouth doing a little angry pout thing that was way cuter than it should've been. His internal debate kicked into overdrive, the argument boiling down to – did he dare? The other Wally probably would have.

"I, oh well, are you busy on Saturday?" The question came out in jumps as he struggled to stay at normal speed. Here it came, the just friends, the I like you but…. She took a breath and Wally had to wait a millennium before words managed to reach him.

"Are you asking me out?"

Wait, what? Did she just? What did that mean? Was she giving him away out, or daring him to continue? Did he dare continue? What was the whole point of being brave, and asking the question if he backed out now? He wasn't a coward. He was not a coward. Okay, maybe he was a little bit of a coward.

"Well, there's this thing, it's a group thing, like party I guess. I guess it's, it's a barbecue. At my place, I mean, my aunt's place, not here at the dorms. I thought, maybe, if you know, you didn't have plans. Free food, I mean they'll be plenty of food. My aunt always make tons of extra 'cause she's convinced that I eat, like five times as much as anyone else." He tried to laugh but it trailed off into an awkward silence.

There was no barbecue. There wasn't even a small get-together planned. It was probably obvious that he was BSing his way through this whole conversation. She would probably hate him now. He had ruined everything. Why hadn't he just kept his big mouth shut?

"Sounds like fun. What time?"

"Oh, well, you know, afternoon – evening. It's not formal or anything just, people."

"How about four then, no better make that 4:30. Does that work?"

He nodded, shutting his mouth before it somehow managed to get him out of what it had gotten him into.

Linda took a few steps, turning to smile at him before taking off for her next class at a fast walk. Wally watched her go. He felt fuzzy, full of bubbles. Any second now his alarm would pull them out of this paradise, but until it did he was going to enjoy every millisecond. He had a date.

 

* * *

 

 

Roy was pissed. No, pissed wasn't a strong enough word. After two weeks of being quarantined he was just about ready to explode. It wasn't like he was bedridden. His ribs had mostly healed up. Even if his left arm was still in a splint, that didn't make him a cripple. How was he supposed to get anything done when Liz locked him in a room 20 hours a day.

Just because she had been to medical school she thought she could give him orders. Maybe he would've actually listened to a few of those orders if they had been reasonable rather than authoritarian. And she was supposed to be a member of the resistance, Ha.

Roy knelt in front of the door carefully examining the lock.

When he had managed to make it to the resistance bunker after Green Arrow had been captured he had been on the edge of consciousness. Harry, the live-in mechanic for this dump, had managed to get him inside and call help. In order to be treated Roy had been diverged of his Red Arrow gear and uniform, save for his mask and pants.

He knew his equipment was in a locker downstairs, across the hall, and two rooms over. He just hadn't managed to get there, yet. Liz seemed to have a schedule that even he couldn't predict. She would pop up at irregular times, even in the middle of the night, claiming that her shifts at the hospital kept her jumping.

The first time she had caught Roy up and about Liz had changed the lock on his door. The second time it had happened she had switched his medication to something that gave him hallucinations. This was attempt number five. Liz was quickly making her way up Roy's list of the most evil and annoying people he had ever had to deal with.

The last time she had locked him in here she had also gone through the room stripping it of anything she thought he could use to escape. The list of things that she had missed would have been over 10 pages long by Roy's estimate. She may have been good at catching escaping heroes, but clearly she didn't have any innovation.

This time the lock was a heavy-duty hardware type number. This model was nearly impossible to break, but the increased durability meant the insides had to be simpler. A couple of wires that had once been part of his mattress gave Roy the means to his escape.

The lock clicked open, and Red Arrow was back in business.

Sliding into the hall he closed the door and pressed himself against the wall. The lighting was dim, but then it was almost always dim this far into the building. Renovated warehouses weren't exactly known for being the most bright and cheerful places. Freezing in place he waited, listening.

Footsteps somewhere in the distance, indistinct talking, nothing really clear or close enough to make out. Most resistant bunkers like this one had soundproofing built into the walls as a defense measure so that didn't really mean much. Red couldn't be absolutely sure who was in the building or even if anyone was heading in this direction. Good thing he was used taking risks.

After being trained to move silently in combat boots Roy had no trouble sneaking down the hall in bare feet without making a sound. He nudged the door at the end of the hall with his elbow just enough to peer through it into the room beyond.

This particular hideout was one of the largest the resistance had in Star city. The old factory floor had been converted into a machine shop, while the office space had been turned into something resembling a dormatory. His current prison was included in the latter. Beyond the door was a small platform overlooking the machine shop, and a staircase that would take him down onto it. Everyone in the large room could see that staircase, and the old wood had been purposefully left in so the stairs could be destroyed if it came to it. It creaked terribly. Across the floor in what had once been a break room his gear waited for him.

This was where he always got caught. The stairs would creak, someone would see him, there would be people and talking and Liz would show up out of nowhere. She would of course, insist that he go back to bed and rest until he was fully recovered. The witch always made it sound reasonable when other people were around. Even when he had tried escaping in the middle of the night she had shown up.

Red arrow tried to ignore the blue dancing fairy lights as his medication began to kick in. The throbbing pain from his burns and the cutting pain from his arm started to dull. He hadn't taken more than a half dose of the pain meds. Liz would probably shove the rest down his throat when she caught him, but for now he wanted to be able to think straight.

Now, which ploy should he attempt this time. He had already tried the direct approach. Walking down there and hoping she just didn't show up. After all, he was basically the one in charge of this operation. Another option was to try sneaking around through the back of the building, or crawling through the rafters. The latter would probably be a little bit difficult with a broken arm. There were a few other options but which one was the best mostly depended on what time it was.

Different people, and different numbers of people would be in the building at different times. This was one of the larger bases, and one of the only ones in the region that was properly outfitted to hold off anyone up to and including Superman himself. For known members of the resistance such as himself it was one of the few places where dropping your guard didn't mean automatic death. People would often show up looking for a good nights sleep or a place to lay low during the day. The high traffic times were the hours around dawn and dusk.

Roy had been forced to take apart his alarm clock for escape attempt number three so he had no idea what time it was. On the whole it didn't matter too much, after all he was only trying to avoid one person. On the other hand, the more people who saw him the more likely it was to get back to Liz. Even if she didn't catch them this time she would likely find some way to discourage any further unsanctioned outings.

Enough, he was wasting time. From what he could see the factory floor was mostly empty. He would take his chances, and make a run for it.

Roy pushed the door open, not trying to hide but not trying to draw attention either. He took in the room more fully as he went down the stairs. There were three cars and the remains of a fighter jet in various states of repair parked in different corners. Various tools, spare parts, and welding equipment filled out the rest of the seemingly random space. No matter where someone stood there would be decent cover and a reasonable improvised weapon at hand.

Harry was down there as always. At the moment he seemed to be working on his pet project, an older model golden brown Camaro that had more bells and whistles hidden away inside it then Roy had trick arrows. The Camaro hadn't seen any action yet. Roy secretly hoped that he was around when Harry finally brought it out of the shop, if only to see where he had managed to fit the machine gun.

Harry wasn't the only one down on the floor. A handful of resistance members that Roy knew by sight if not by name, were drinking coffee on the couches in the corner. Plastique and Jumper, a demolitions and electronics expert respectively, had made themselves at home on the far side of the jet. Then Roy saw Natasha.

The young dark skinned woman was leaning against the doorway to the locker room. Her hair was pulled back sharply away from her face, revealing the strong lines of her features and the curve of her neck. Her casual posture was at odds with her tailored uniform. The blue fabric complemented her natural colors.

Natasha Irons was a highly valued member of the resistance. Normally she worked out of metropolis with her uncle John Henry, but for the last five months she had been undercover, working her way deeper into the Lords organization. Natasha was incredibly intelligent, beautiful, and had as much iron in her as her name implied. The last time Roy had seen Nat they had saved each other's lives; both of them ending up with the scars to prove it.

He reached the bottom of the stairs. They had creaked as he had predicted, there had been enough glances in his direction to make hiding kind of pointless. He had been planning on heading in that direction anyway so Roy took a casual path towards Nat. He hadn't heard anything about her coming to Star City. If she had broken cover to get here it must've been important.

Ignoring caution for the moment Roy cut across the workspace. It was of course at just that moment that Liz decided to enter the room. Roy wasn't quite fast enough to stop himself from flinching. No, he decided, he would not be dragged back to his room yet again, especially not when Nat had shown up out of the blue.

Somehow Liz managed to get between Nat and him before Roy could cross the distance. "Red? What are you doing out of bed? You're hurt, you should be resting." The worry in Liz's voice was matched only by the concern. Her expression was innocence and confusion and worry.

Roy tried not to look down at her.

The woman was just over 5 foot 5 with light brown hair that curled around her face in a way that could only be described as cute. Her hazel eyes seemed to be twice as large as an ordinary persons. Standing there in her light blue scrubs with a kind of half apron on over the top, she looked like one of those porcelain dolls. All she needed was a little milkmaid hat and a bucket to complete the outfit.

"Ah, hello Liz. I didn't expect to see you here. Did they change your schedule again?" Roy desperately tried to stall for time, putting on a dazzling smile that he had picked up from Ollie.

Liz looked up at him. She seemed completely oblivious of his ulterior motives, but that didn't stop her from unintentionally blocking any possible escape. "Red? What are you doing down here? You're flushed, are you all right? Is there any pain? Have you taken your medication?" If she hadn't looked so much like someone's kid sister she would've sounded motherly.

"I'm fine." Roy tried not to let his eyes follow the blinking blue lights and swirling purple shapes that wound through his vision. "I just needed to stretch my legs. I have to do something to keep active since my doctor won't let me train." He had meant it as a joke, or a light jibe at most. They had had this conversation enough times for it to be old news to everybody in the base. Apparently Liz wasn't in a joking mood.

"You're being reckless. You have to be careful with your arm if you're ever going to use it again, and I still haven't had a chance to map the nerve damage. If you push yourself too soon the damage might be irreversible." Her voice was almost childlike in its openness. Her hands were clasped in front of her as if she was holding back the urge to reach out to him.

Red Arrow tried to hold onto his shields but as always Liz played straight into his weaknesses. Roy may not have been as much of a sucker for a pretty girl as Ollie had been, but as a hero the damsel in distress thing always managed to get to him. He couldn't lie to her straight out, not when she was giving him that look.

He didn't really know how to deal with it. Roy didn't exactly have a lot of experience with the fairer sex outside of a working environment. For some reason he just couldn't picture Liz as a colleague, and he certainly wasn't going to start flirting with her or anything. If anything she was like a kid sister to him. She made him want to protect her, and managed to push all his buttons at the same time. She meanwhile always treated him like the younger sibling, trying to take care of him.

"I am not being reckless. I'm a hero, I know what I'm doing. I'm not some little kid who needs to be looked after."

"Red…" The pout on her lower lip started to grow.

Oh no, not again. "Liz-" He brought up his hands trying to forestall what he knew was coming.

"You're trying to leave again."

Too late. The small woman's eyes began to tear up, her words coming out between little hiccups.

"You're trying" her lip started to wobble, "to go out there again. Even though" her nose was starting to drip, "you're, hurt and," her shoulders were starting to shake "they nearly," her voice cracked "nearly, killed you."

"They didn't kill me." Roy made one last-ditch attempt to stop the waterworks but Liz didn't even seem to hear him.

"It's bad, enough," tears were flowing freely now "you got yourself electrocuted, when Hawk Girl, and Green Lantern," She had to gasp in breath. "captured, Green Arrow. Now you don't," her hands fumbled at her apron, wringing it between her hands "even," she brought the apron up and Roy could tell that it was about to become a handkerchief. "care about getting hurt." she blew her nose hard into the corner of the fabric.

Roy felt the last bits of his control slip away. His shoulders slumped as he gave in to the inevitable. The first time he had been in this situation he hadn't known what to do with his hands. By now, he knew to just pat her on the shoulder and agree to whatever she wanted.

As Roy turned Liz toward the break room he had plenty of time to take in the rest of the room's inhabitants. Harry was watching with his normal expression of disinterested amusement. The group in the corner were openly watching and even across the large room Roy could see the amusement in their expressions. Plastique was purposefully ignoring him, while Jumper shot disapproving looks in his direction.

Nat had her expression mostly masked as they slipped past her. Her eyebrows arched as their eyes met.

"Don't say a word." Roy hissed the words over Liz's head.

Natasha just kept leaning against the doorway. Her grin spoke the words she didn't bother voicing.

 

* * *

 

 

Courtney glanced up from where she was hunched over her algebra homework. Pat sat across from her sedately reading the sports section from that morning's paper. Any moment now he would retire to the garage. Until that happened she was stuck acting as the dutiful daughter with her homework spread all over the kitchen table.

Pat glanced up in time to catch her eye, a smile bringing up one corner of his mouth. Courtney hastily smiled back ducking her head as she returned to her books.

Pat was Courtney's stepfather, and as far as she was concerned he was tolerable, but only barely. When Courtney's mother had married him, the new family had moved from Los Angeles to Blue Valley. Blue Valley prided itself on being a nice quiet place to live which as far as Courtney was concerned was just another way of saying the most boring place on earth. It wasn't even like they had moved for Pat's job or anything. Pat was a mechanic he could work anywhere.

How her mother could fall for someone who's idea of a good time was rebuilding an engine Courtney had no idea. Today though she was going to take advantage of the fact that Pat had spent every afternoon of the past two months rebuilding the old Thunderbird in their garage.

Today Courtney had a project of her own.

You wouldn't know it to look at him but Pat had been a Cape once upon a time. He had been 17 in 1942 and had fought as Stripes partner to the Star-Spangled Kid and sometime member of the Justice Society of America, and the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Apparently he had been thrown through time by someone called the Nebula Man which explained how he was still alive. That had seemingly ended his hero career however, since Stripes was obviously no longer active.

Not that his history was well-known or anything. Courtney wasn't even sure her mom knew about it. Courtney had only found out about it a week and a half ago. She had been digging around in the attic looking for a box that had somehow gotten misplaced when they had moved to Blue Valley. What she found instead was a pair of old steamer trunks filled with scrapbooks, paraphernalia and equipment from her new stepfather's old exploits.

It had taken her a while to piece together exactly what she had found. Once she realized that it wasn't just some big joke she had decided to borrow a few things, like the star-spangled kid's old cosmic converter belt and staff.

Courtney's project for that afternoon was to sneak out of the house and figure out if any of it still worked.

Pat finally set down his paper. "You okay here Courtney? Need any help with that?" He waved vaguely at her books.

"Nope, I've got it." So far she had only finished two problems out of 25, but she could finish it later. Courtney kept a smile plastered over her face, silently begging him to just go to the garage already.

He took his time about it, retrieving a pair of sodas from the fridge before finally leaving. Courtney let out a gusty breath before stopping to listen. There was no one else in the house since her stepbrother hadn't gotten home yet. With the house empty it wasn't hard to hear Pat turn on the radio from the garage. She waited a few more minutes just to be absolutely certain he wasn't going to come and check on her, than she started throwing her books back into her school bag.

Dumping her school bag on the floor of her room Courtney retrieved the staff from the back of her closet and dug the belt out from where she had hidden it at the bottom of her sock drawer. She was about to make good her escape when she spotted her reflection in the mirror on her closet door. Her long blonde hair was a mess and while the overlarge school sweatshirt had done an excellent job of fooling Pat it wasn't exactly something she wanted to go out on the town in. Time for a slight wardrobe change. Oh what the hell, if she was going to be trying out the equipment anyway she might as well go for costume just to complete the look. As an added bonus it would probably annoy Pat to no end. Not that she was going to let him find out.

There wasn't exactly a lot to choose from. Her wardrobe was generally more practical than fanciful. She still had the cheerleading uniform from the two weeks she had bothered to attend practice, and the wicked witch costume left over from last Halloween but billowing robes and short skirts weren't exactly practical for flight.

Courtney shoved things around looking for something that might actually work. All her options seemed either too impractical or didn't have any flair. Then a shimmering blue caught her eye. The shirt she pulled out was sapphire blue with an enormous white star emblazoned across the chest. She remembered this shirt. Her mom had given her hell when she had bought it for a Fourth of July party last year. Courtney's mother was of the firm opinion that someone Courtney's age shouldn't be walking around with her stomach showing.

Courtney let the shimmering fabric flow through her hands. It was perfect. The dark blue work out shorts from her kickboxing uniform and a pair of yellow goggles rounded out the outfit enough to satisfy her.

Courtney made her escape from the house, riding the stolen cosmic rod like a witch on a broomstick. The staff made her feel like she was swimming through the air, lighter than she should have been but not to the point where she would start floating away. The bright red belt that was the other half of the set seemed to come with a different set of perks. The minute she had put on the belt her skin had started tingling. She had no idea how any of it worked, and didn't care one bit.

It felt like years since she had been dragged kicking and screaming away from all of her friends, her school, the city that she had known all her life. The two months since they had moved to Blue Valley had gone by torturously slowly. Up there in the sky with stars dancing across her skin, sending enough power through her to let her do anything, it was different. It made her feel giddy. Flying like that almost made the move worth it.

As she sailed over the city Courtney let out a cheer of unrestrained joy.

Cursing shouted over a pounding stereo and the sound of screeching tires answered her outburst.

Courtney twisted, nearly falling off the cosmic rod. Scrambling, she managed to get one foot into the hook on the end of the rod, hanging onto the shaft as if she was riding a streetcar. Out of danger, she surveyed the ground for the source of the noise.

At the end of the freshly painted skid mark sat a red sports car. The car had half spun around ending up completely out of its lane and sitting half in the crosswalk half in the intersection. Luckily there were no other cars on the street. Madison and 14th wasn't exactly the most busy intersection even at rush hour. It didn't look like there was any damage so it took Courtney a moment to identify the trigger for this event. A moment later Mason stepped out of the car, making sure that everyone within earshot knew what Courtney had just figured out.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing old man? Jumping into the middle-of-the-road, nearly making me crash. You think this is funny? I swear old man if I find one scratch."

Courtney tuned him out. By this point it was habit. Courtney had been tuning Mason out ever since her first day at Blue Valley High. As the local jock and star athlete, Mason had a head about the same size as the town. Though, considering the size of the town there was a good chance that Mason's head was actually bigger. The car was Mason's pride and joy. Personally, Courtney thought his face looked like he'd run headfirst into a brick wall. The car was the only thing that made Mason look good.

Courtney was in no way one of Mason's adoring fans. The only time they had interacted had resulted in him with a bloody nose and her with detention, as well as getting kicked off the cheerleading squad. It had been worth it.

Mason was now shouting into the face of the older man who had supposedly jumped in front of his car. Courtney hadn't seen it but she doubted that was the case. The man was wearing a jogging suit. He still stood in the crosswalk a few feet from the curb. Courtney hadn't seen him move the whole time, even now when Mason was getting up in his face. Maybe the man was in shock.

It didn't really matter to Courtney if the man was in shock, it didn't even matter if he had actually jumped in front of Mason's car. At this point Mason was just being rude, and Courtney would delight in taking him down a few pegs.

With a slight shift in weight Courtney brought the cosmic rod down in an arc towards street level. She landed amidst red and gold starbursts, swinging the cosmic rod up and around as she adjusted to the suddenly normal level of gravity. All right, cool entrance achieved, even if she had no idea how she had done that starburst thing.

The two men, older and younger had both turned in her direction. The older man looked slightly surprised, his eyebrows arching up into his forehead, but it was Mason's look that Courtney truly enjoyed. Mason's expression seemed to have frozen somewhere between disbelief and indignation. His mouth was open with his jaw thrust out sideways. His eyebrows were up and seemingly trying to touch each other between his eyes. The final touch were his eyes, which were bugged out with the left one twitching sporadically.

"Hey jerk face, you want to try taking on someone who doesn't have one foot in the grave?" Courtney didn't have to try hard to get her voice to ring out like that. She had never really been all that quiet.

The old man finally moved, crossing his arms and leaning back on his heels. It was subtle, but that little gesture moved himself out of the conflict. He may still have been the subject, but he was no longer in the line of fire. That was fine with Courtney. He then became part of the background as she focused her attention in on Mason.

Mason had come to the expected conclusion. She was just a girl. Not even a very tall girl, and while she did have muscle it was lean and flexible rather than the muscle of raw power that he was used to seeing in his football buddies. After all, what had she really done so far? Fly? Well, she could fly away then. Her sparks from earlier may have been colorful but they hadn't looked all that dangerous. Mason shrugged into his familiar macho act.

He snorted. "What do you think you're going to do? Go ahead, wave your magic wand, click your heels together. Maybe if you throw up enough pixie dust I'll be dazzled by the pretty lights."

"Well, if your driving is any indication, that might be the only thing that could get your attention."

Mason's face scrunched again. "Are you insulting my car?" He probably had meant it to come out as an accusation, a challenge. Instead, the question was awkward.

Courtney was having fun. "What? No. Saying your car is one coat of paint away from the junk heap, that's insulting your car; or if I said the car was clearly compensation for something. That would be insulting, though maybe not to the car."

That struck a nerve. Mason's car really was the only thing he cared about. It was just so easy to push his buttons.

Mason put his head down, hunching his shoulders like he did in practice. He came at her, charging like a ram, trying to plow his shoulder into her chest. It was exactly what Courtney had been waiting for. She sidestepped, letting his momentum carry him past. Only then did she realize her mistake.

Courtney had never been trained to fight with a staff. Back in LA she had gone to kickboxing classes and taken the occasional tikwando corse. She had learned to defend herself against a staff, but not to use one. Additionally, now that it was turned off, the cosmic rod was heavier then any practice weapon.

Mason turned on his heal. Spinning and throwing out his fist. Courtney took a quick step back, reacting on instinct. His fist was pulled back at the same time as his next attack came forward. Bent nearly double he managed to slip in under her guard. His fist came up aiming at her jaw. Amateur mistake. He should have gone for a body blow, short fast and hard rather then showy. Courtney used the extra second to shove the rod forward, catching him across his body, left shoulder to right armpit and forcing him back.

He was at least 50 pounds heavier then she was and he knew how to use it well enough to do some damage. She had to start taking this seriously or this wasn't going to end well. First thing first, a weapon she didn't know haw to use was a liability more then an asset. She couldn't exactly drop the cosmic rod but turning it on would at least make it light enough to handle. Her fingers found the switch just as Mason found his footing.

Suddenly the cosmic-rod was feather-light in her hands. Before Mason could charge again, Courtney took the fight to him. She had seen enough by that point to know that he had no real training, football not withstanding. She stepped into a turn snap kick. It was a simple move, easy to see and thus avoid.

Mason took the opening, trying to close the distance between them. Courtney stepped into the second part of the combo, drawing back enough to keep the distance while twisting her hips to add momentum and power to her jump.

In practice Courtney would have then brought her leg down in an ax-kick that, if done right, would shatter a mans collar bone. It didn't work out that way. Courtney had forgotten about the main function of the cosmic-rod. Her jump took her far higher then it should have. The kick swung through empty air, sending Courtney into an unintentional spin.

The lessened gravity effect and the uncontrolled spinning were not a good combo. Her stomach threatened to empty it's self and she froze, trying to fight it back. With her eyes nailed shut it took her a moment to realize when the movement stopped. A deep breath and she centered herself, opening her eyes to orient on the scene below her.

Before she could get back in the game, the old man stepped forward. Courtney hadn't payed much attention to him before. She had him pegged as just an innocent bystander. She was forced to quickly revise that estimation when the man put Mason in a headlock.

The man muttered something to Mason, then gave him a sharp jab in the side and released his hold. Mason sucked in a breath and made a dive for his car. There was a screeching of tires as he peeled around the corner. Courtney let herself drift down to a soft landing.

This time she took a good look at him. He was taller then average, with broad shoulders. His jogging suit was comprised of grey sweatpants and an old sweatshirt that might once have been black. Beneath his sleeves Courtney could see that his wrists were wrapped. He had the hood up making it hard to see his face, and for a moment Courtney thought the hood had been sewed wrong. It stuck out to the sides of his head like one of those anime jackets with the ears. Then she realized that under the hood he was also wearing a baseball cap. That was what was distorting the hood. Beneath the hood she could see a square jaw and a nose that had been broken in the past.

Courtney paused. What exactly was she supposed to do now? She didn't need to ask if he was alright. He clearly wasn't hurt. At the same time, just leaving seemed a bit rude. Plus she was kind of curious.

"Let me guess, first time out? Or are you just new to Blue Vally?" his voice was deep, rough, but not without a certain roguish charm.

"Umm, both?"

He nodded and she finally got a real look at his face as he pushed back the hood. He had dark eyes and black hair that was going grey at the temples. "Then welcome to Blue Vally, the most average place in the US."

Well, at least she wasn't the only one who thought this place was boring.

"So, what do you call yourself then?" His hands came to rest on his hips as he studied her.

Suddenly she was terribly self conscious. "Umm, Courtney."

One of his eyebrows rose. "I think I'll call you Star Girl, and a bit of advise. Don't wave your name around when in costume."

Courtney went red. How could she possibly have blanked on the fact that she was in costume. She was still holding the cosmic-rod for heaven's sake. Stupid, stupid, but he had said... maybe he wouldn't tell...

He was still talking. "Other then that you haven't done too badly, for a first time out. You've had some training at least but it's clear you don't know a thing about aerial combat, and your staff work is shabby at best. As for the rest of it..." He was rubbing at his chin as if he was trying to remember where he put something. "Kickboxing." he finally stated. "With some martial arts flair thrown in." He nodded without waiting for her to confirm it. "Ted Grant."

The man held out his name along with his open hand. Courtney took it, because really what else was she going to do?

"Well, everything seems to be sorted out here." She released his hand quicker then was totally polite. "I should be going then." She fumbled with the cosmic-rod, trying to switch it on again and absolutely failing at being subtle.

Mr Grant just looked amused. "Hey, Star Girl."

She was over five feet off the ground but she paused and looked back at him.

"You ever want to work on your form, swing by Grant's Gym. It's up on seventh."

Okay, not what she had expected.

He nodded to her one last time, then turned and went on with his jog.

Courtney shifted the rod so it would take her higher. She felt like she had missed something. It felt like she had stepped on a small stone and any second now that dislodged stone would cause a rockslide. But who was she kidding, nothing ever happened in small towns like this.

Courtney turned the cosmic-rod towards home and wondered if she would be able to sneak in through her window without anyone noticing.


	8. Chapter 8

John Stuart hadn't gone through the portal with any hope for freedom or peace. The only thing he knew for certain was that he had been backed into a corner. If he was going to go down, he would do it with a weapon in his hands. For all he knew he could have been stepping into the void of empty space or a dimension where earth was void of life. If so, fine, it was still better then letting the League's Batman dictate hit fate.

 

When his molecules realigned in total darkness, John took only a moment to asses his new situation. The smell of cold water and minerals was the only counterpoint to a darkness so absolute it could have only been underground. 

 

John put on his training like a well used coat. His knees bent to handle any uneven ground he probed and stepped forward and to one side, automatically clearing the line of fire for anyone behind him. There was a faint blue aura as Hawk Girl stepped out of the portal to his right. He let one of his boots scrape on the stone to tell her where he was. He heard her move off, taking the right side and providing an opposite flank to his position.

 

Behind the two of them the portal flashes again. This time John uses the momentary light source to pick out anything he can about his surroundings. It only served to emphasize what he already knew. They were in a large slightly damp cavern.

 

At the next flash he caught the dull glint of metal. Was that? Was it possible he knew where they were? This couldn't be the Batcave, could it? He laid out a mental map over the surroundings, fixing his eyes on the spot where, in his own universe, a mechanical dinosaur stood amongst the trophies. It was a risk since he would only get one more glimpse around, but if he didn't see anything maybe Hawk Girl would.

 

Diana took her time about going through the portal. His eyes were beginning to twitch, looking for a light source that wasn't there. Then the portal opened and for a brief moment the monstrous T-Rex stood out in monochrome? 

 

“J'onn link us up.” 

 

The voice belonged to Superman and even if it was kept to a harsh whisper it caused John to grit his teeth. Superman may have been a fine general, but when it came to stealth he was hopeless. If J'onn could have established a mental link within the group he would have done it already. Instead Kal had just announced their location to anyone who might be hiding in the dark. The quiet hope that it might be an ally hiding in the dark was left unacknowledged. Hawk Girl shushed him.

 

John took another step, shifting position away from the sounds his fellows were making. Even if this was the batcave there was no guarantee they were in a friendly universe. 

 

He wouldn't have been so tense if they had been at their normal power levels but as it stood he was the only one who hadn't been crippled by the loss. He was just at zero charge. Once he got his hands on a battery he would be back to full strength. Of the others Hawk Girl was the only one who looked like she might be able to hold off an attack. Her wings though, they would slow her down now. The others seemed even worse off. 

 

They needed time and a defensible location to recover. Which meant as field leader he had a decision to make. Take a chance that this was their world and possibly put the team into further danger or try to keep their presence hidden at least until they had more information.

 

No fear.

 

John took several steps into the dark, letting his boots sound out a steady rhythm. Before the others could start to follow he called out into the dark. “Green Lantern security code: 387602-alpha activate safeguard protocol 17.”

 

His deceleration was met with a quiet storm of rustling overhead and a small green light on a platform at his one-o-clock. The light blinked several times finally coming on full as a screen the size of a picture window came to life. A square was burned into John's vision so he couldn't read the words being displayed but the mechanical voice of the computer was clear enough.

 

“Watchtower connection established. Safeguard protocol 17 activated.”

 

Mass became energy as the teleportation stream pulled them through space. 

 

 

* * *

 

Batman stood fighting with the watchtower controls when protocol 17 was activated.

 

Protocol 17 was one of the hundreds of backups and safeguards he had planned. The other Lords had always considered him a bit paranoid for it but it was nice to know at least one of them had been paying attention. This particular plan teleported all Lords within 30 feet of the activator to predesignated safe-houses. The activation code belonged to Green Lantern but more importantly it had originated from within the bat-cave. 

 

Batman nearly jumped on the teleporter controls shoving the active technician out of the way in the process. He barely looked up as the three figures were resembled. J'onn collapsed a spasm going through his form as it reverted to his natural martian shape. Hawk Girl seemed to relax, she had to brace herself as the energy drained out of her. Green Lantern stood as if waiting to be attacked, blinking at the lights. Batman growled at the controls for another few seconds before he was apparently satisfied.

 

Several of the technicians in the room had stepped forward towards the downed Lords before Batman barked out an order for them to stop. Green Lantern turned from the nearest technician to Batman with his guard back up to full.

 

“Prove yourselves.” Batman's voice was as low and uninflected as always, but at the words the others in the room seemed to realize the potential danger.

 

John ran through the various passwords and countersignes he could recite, then discard them in favor of something more mundane. "A few days ago Hawkgirl and I called you on our way to put down a riot; you said you hated old times."

 

Batman watched him for a moment longer then gestured for the technicians to move forward. Only then did John let himself relax, sinking to his knees as his field of vision narrowed. Beside him J’onn was swarmed, loaded onto a pallet and carried off presumably to the medical bay. A group of technicians tried to do the same to Hawkgirl. They were less successful. At some point she had been relieved of her mace so she threatened them with her fists and the spirit that even now was unbroken. John started to rise when she nearly fell off the teleportation platform. Only then did she allow one of the men to slip under one arm and take some of her weight.

 

Batman waved away the technicians that came towards John. Standing above him Batman seemed to take in his condition with a single glance. The rising bruises, the after battle strains, the red marks on his wrists left by the cuffs, Batman took it all in without releasing a single expression.

 

"The League?"

 

Batman had to already know but he wanted confirmation.

 

"And Luther." That got an expression out of him, though John wasn't sure if it was anger or disgust.

 

"Superman and Wonder Woman?"

 

John leaned back using one hand to support himself as he looked around. Superman and Wonder Woman were indeed missing. Only three of them had teleported in. John was exhausted; his mind had come to a stop and was refusing to process anything. He shook his head.

 

"They're alive. They were with us when we came through into the cave."

 

Batman grunted and looked away, out towards the window and the blue-green planet that hung below them. 

 

When he nodded and began to turn away John had to ask. "You know where they are?"

 

Batman didn't pause on his way to the teleportation controls. "If they were there when you activated protocol 17 then Superman would've been sent to his Fortress of solitude and Wonder Woman would have been sent to her chosen safe house." At the controls Batman started typing in commands.

 

John tried to make his mind work again but it still wasn't happening. "I thought we didn't have teleportation access to Themescera.”

 

"We don't."

 

"Then where? Her New York apartment?"

 

Batman finished typing and came back up onto the platform to stand a few feet to John's left. "No, the Batcave. Get some rest. I will contact you in a few hours." Just before the teleportation beam swept him away Batman let his expression softened just a touch. His final words were said in a low voice that didn't carry. "It's bad. We’re going to need you for the long game."

 

John's first instinct was to push himself to his feet, ignore the fatigue he was feeling and go find someone who could tell him what was going on. Now that he had a chance to look around the watchtower his anxiety level was hiked up a few notches. Barely a quarter of the monitoring stations were active. He hadn't noticed at first since they had teleported in from such a dark cave but the lights were only at half strength. The slightly stale taste of the air finally caught up with him. It seemed that his group hadn't been the only ones to be attacked while they were gone.

 

Pushing himself up the world seemed to wobble and it was a moment before he could wave away the technicians who had come forward to help.

 

"Should we send word ahead to the medical bay, Mr. Lantern?"

 

John looked up at the young man who had addressed him. God, the kid was young. He looked like he was 15. He also looked nervous, not out right afraid. It was the kind of anxiety that hung in the air in hospital waiting rooms.

 

Oddly enough that was what made John change his mind. Batman was impossible to read but John hadn't got the feeling that he was racing the clock. John laid a hand on the kid's shoulder as he passed.

 

"Don't bother. Batman is right I just need a few hours in my bunk. Someone send for me when he calls."

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was dark. There had been a bit of light but now that was gone as well. Diana shivered of all of Hades domains this one may not have been the most terrifying but in the end it would prove to be the cruelest. She knew the power of the dark, knew what it could do to a person's mind. She knelt on the cold stone, clasping her hands in prayer, she waited for the demons to turn her mad.

 

The light, when it came, was blue not red. It surprised her but then who was she to critique the aesthetic choices of the gods. It faded quickly and Diana found herself thankful. Light was the color of hope and hope could be a terrible thing in a trap like this.

 

The sounds came next. Heavy footfalls, and the rustling of wings. Creatures gathering in the dark. The sounds moved from her right off away to her left. She couldn't tell what they were anymore. This space distorted sound like the dark distorted the mind.

 

“Diana.”

 

No it was a trick. It wasn't him. It was just the torture the demons had chosen. Hope again, but that would only make it worse.

 

“Damn it Diana, Answer me!”

 

The voice had moved, closer this time. It sounded so much like Bruce. It tore at her, drawing a sob from her throat as the tears started to fall. She couldn't breath. She couldn't move. She wanted to run to that voice even if she would end up running forever, chasing a phantom, even if she ended up in the arms of Hades himself. Her limbs were frozen, locked into place and cold as the stone she knelt on.

 

The sounds stopped, paused, then turned coming closer. The first few footfalls were hesitant but they quickly grew faster and more confident. A small snap prepositioned a green chemical light held in a black gloved hand.

 

Diana followed the light up to the face of the man holding it.

 

Bruce. He had pushed back his mask. In the green light his skin looked even paler then normal. He knelt down in front of her, his cape rolling forward to surround her, cutting off the night.

 

It was him. It was really him. This wasn't some illusion, or trick. Diana brought her arms up reaching for him. It was hard to move, her joints didn't want to work but she pushed at them and slowly got her way.

 

Bruce was talking all the while in a low smooth voice. “Diana, I'm sorry. I had to lock down the cave. Are you alright? Are you injured? Diana I need you to speak to me. I think there's something wrong.”

 

It was hard to breath. Her hands came up to lightly touch his face, but she couldn't seem to feel him. His skin should have been warm. Why couldn't she feel anything? In the green light her hands looked grey, like stone rather then her more usual copper.

 

The part of her that was still Wonder Woman fought, trying to reason out what was happening. That part of her was slowly dieing, and the part of her that was Diana didn't really mind. The gods had been merciful. They had granted her last request, and if it was merely a pause before her sentence was carried out then so be it. She closed her eyes, acceptance and soft joy covering her features.

 

Batman watched as her features went still.

 

She had turned to stone in his arms. A statue of a beautiful kneeling woman reaching up towards the heavens. Her expression was serene but not without sorrow. He stood, disengaging his cape from around her. How had this happened? What had caused it? 

 

Batman found himself staring down at her. As a statue she was a work of art. Only a master could have captured the details of how her hair curled around her face, the grace held frozen in stone hands, or the expression that belonged on the face of a saint. It was impossible. After everything he had seen this could not happen. He denied it. His mind casting it out as an impossible fact. But still the woman knelt before him, white marble sitting on cold granite.

 

Wonder Woman, Diana, was gone. 


	9. Chapter 9

The sender of the text was blocked. It wasn't the first time Zatanna had received such a message, but normally they were fairly ambiguous and they were never signed. Zee had always figured she'd ended up on a list somewhere, maybe one about getting her fortune told, or reading the stars or something. This text was different though. 

 

“Need to talk, something big is up, 9, O”

 

Zee was assuming O was an initial rather than an exclamation of surprise. 9 might have been a time, or a room number or any number of other things. Whoever was sending these things may have given her more information this time but it was still Greek to her. Then again Zatanna spoke Greek fluently so maybe that wasn't the best analogy. 

 

Zee ran through her mental records of the past texts. The first one had been about nine or ten months ago. It had been something along the lines of “Be on the lookout, the enemy is watching.” Zee had dismissed it after spending almost fifteen minutes trying to find out how to cancel the service. Then that very afternoon the hotel she had been performing at was overrun with officials who turned everything upside down on a supposed drug bust. Luckily she had kept all the important things in her hat or there might have been trouble. 

 

The next time she had gotten one of these things it had said “Go out tonight.” She had snorted at the screen, but she hadn't had anything better to do. A few hours on the town would probably do her some good. She had gone out dancing, flirted with more men then she could remember and gotten home after two in the morning. A week later she had been called in for questioning in a murder case. Her night out provided an otherwise absent alibi.

 

After that she had started paying real attention. The texts were infrequent. Sometimes they didn't come to anything that she could see but more often they acted as a warning to dangers that were very real. The text “Change the act tonight” had led her to uncover that one of her stagehands was stealing from her. The text “Humor the old man” had led her into performing at a private function where she earned twice her normal fee and a book she had been trying to get her hands on for three years. The most dramatic text had come during half time for one of her shows. “Cage the lion.” hadn't made any sense until half way through the second act. A group of men had stood up in the middle of the audience just before the finale and the one calling the shots had had a lion on his jacket. It hadn't been much of an effort to pluck him up from the aisle and trap him in one of her spinning box props. Considering it was improvised, it had turned into a great finale. The audience had loved it, and the police weren't too upset either when they found Leo Genosa, former inter-gang enforcer, could be taken into custody.

 

“Hey Marie, do I have anything happening at nine?” Zee shot the question over her shoulder as her stage manager entered the dressing room carrying coffee. That woman was a godsend. Zee took the offered cup and imitated a starving man given bread.

 

“Not on a Tuesday. One show at seven, it'll be over by eight thirty. Unless there's something I should know about?”

 

“No, just a cryptic text from a friend. Nothing important.” Zatanna resolved to keep a sharp eye out for any nines or zeros. 

 

The truth was, she was curious. After the first few messages she had cast a few spells trying to trace the sender. She had ended up with nothing to show for it. It was as if the sender didn't exist. Nothing she had tried since then had worked either. If there was even the smallest chance of untangling this mystery then she could hardly wait. 

 

For the rest of the day Zee was caught between eagle eyed attentiveness and impatient boredom. She tried to keep to her normal routine but every time she caught sight of a nine or an O she couldn't stop herself from spinning around to look. By the end of her show (no one interesting sitting in 9A, 9B, 9C or any of the other nines, and there wasn't a 9O, she had checked. ) she practically had whiplash. 

 

At 8:50 Zatanna retreated to her dressing room. By that point she was half expecting nothing to happen. When her phone rang at 9:08 she nearly fell out of her chair in her lunge to grab it off the makeup table.

 

“Hello?”

 

The blast of white noise and mechanical twittering that came through the line was enough to make her jerk the phone away from her ear and fear for her hearing. She stared at the phone as the sound shut off, mentally berating herself for falling for this crazy stunt. 

 

“Zatanna Zatara, it's a pleasure to finally speak in person.”

 

Zee's ears were still ringing. It was questionable whether she was hearing correctly. The voice from the phone was feminine with a precise and uninflected mechanical quality. It may not have been the last thing Zee expected but it was pretty far down the list.

 

“Are you still there?”

 

Zee realized she was now staring at the phone in her hands, and moved. “Yes, I'm here. Who is this?”

 

“Before we begin, I trust you can construct a defense against eavesdroppers. I've already covered things from my end.” 

 

The voice didn't sound as if it expected her to refuse. That irked her. Wanting to stay hidden was one thing but it they expected blind obedience they were in for a rude awakening. Still, she couldn't refuse just because of that; it would have been rude.

 

Zee hit the speaker button, setting the phone down on the end table next to the single comfortable chair in the room. She tucked her legs under her, regulating her breathing as she pictured what she wanted to happen. It wasn't really necessary, but it certainly made things easier. 

 

“kcolb lla gniyrp seye.” as the backwards spoken spell left Zatanna's lips a shimmering heat haze of a barrier congealed out of the air around her. This particular spell was one she had perfected back when she had been a teenager. The dome was soundproof and anyone looking through it would be able to see Zatanna but would think she was doing something harmless like reading. Satisfied, she looked back at the phone.

 

"There, barrier up. Are you willing to answer my questions now?" The voice from the other end of the phone couldn't see her cross her arms, which was probably just as well.

 

 

 

"I'll answer what I can." They paused, and Zee had no trouble seeing the ultimatum coming. "But only if you are willing to listen to my proposal."

 

Zatanna considered the situation. She had come up with several theories about whom or what this other was. Once the texts had grown more frequent, she had come to the conclusion that she would eventually be contacted, though admittedly the reality wasn't what she had pictured. Still, she had a few tricks up her sleeve, and more than a few cards that she could play.

 

"Okay, first off, if you have any connection to the realms below you can forget about whatever this is right now. I don't care what you are selling I am not buying. Second: if you're from the other camp I'm still not interested. I've stayed strictly nonpartisan in the past and I plan to keep it that way. That goes for all of the other mystical realms as well so you can just forget it. And don't think you're going to be the one to convince me; I've heard the pitch from Dr. Fate himself."

 

"If it helps, I'm completely human. I'm not even magically inclined."

 

Zee watched the phone skeptically, wondering if she could believe that. The last time she had tried to cast a spell on this mysterious benefactor it failed but then again they hadn't been on the phone, she hadn't had an active connection. Unfortunately, to cast a spell she would have to speak, letting the other person know exactly what she was doing.

 

Okay, before anything else she had to get a name for them. "Who are you?" 

 

"You don't know me, but I am sometimes called Oracle."

 

"Right, Oracle, and you say you're not a practitioner." The sarcasm was practically dripping off her words.

 

"I have no talent that I am aware of. In the past I have been mostly technologically based. Hence, why I have contacted you."

 

"So you need a consultant? Why go through all the trouble of contacting me like this? Even if you want to keep your identity secret, which I get, that's a bit much. Plus, that doesn't really explain the texts I've been getting. I'm assuming those were you as well?" Zee tucked the phone into her shoulder as she crossed her legs. After years on the stage she had gotten into the habit of talking with her hands. The more animated the conversation the more she tended to compound words with gestures. This conversation seemed like it was going to get up there on the scale of one to crazy and she didn't want to drop the phone somewhere along the way.

 

"I may have sent you a few texts, yes."

 

"Why?" Her left hand curled around the arms of the chair, already fiddling with the upholstery.

 

"Because, I've heard a lot of stories about your father, and I think you are more like him than you have led the world to believe."

 

Zatanna sat limp in her chair. It was honestly a good thing that she had already been sitting down because she couldn't seem to feel her legs, or anything really below her shoulders for that matter. No one mentioned her father. To the common man he had appeared to be a failure. A stage magician with no extraordinary talent who had traveled the country doing as many charity shows as he had paying gigs. He had been generous, maybe too generous for his own good. He could've possibly become great, but had never really tried. He had also never broken his own rule and used real magic in a show. But that was only what he had shown to the public. In the magical community he was still known as one of the greatest spell weavers since Merlin himself. He had stood beside Dr. Fate and the Phantom Stranger as one of the masters of mystic lore. He had never turned away from the truth no matter how hard it was to face. He had always strived to put what was right ahead of what was easy. In a time when heroes were only just reemerging, he had stood in the shadows guiding the way into the light.

 

Zatanna had turned her back on her father's legacy after his death. She had inherited his talent, but apparently not his courage. Instead she had broken his rules, flaunting her power on stage while pretending it was all an act and reaping all the benefits along the way. She was a power unto herself and denied all responsibilities and allegiances. There had been those who disapproved of that choice, and many had used her father in one argument or another. It was always about him though. She should uphold his legacy. She should defy his legacy. It was all variations on the same theme until now. None of them had ever claimed to know her.

 

"What did you say?"

 

"Losing someone is never easy, even harder when it's a parent. I've seen it before. You grab onto whatever you can whether it's revenge or defiance or denial."

 

"Stop it! Stop talking like you know me. You don't know me." It came out louder and harsher then Zee had meant. Normally she had more control, but it seemed to have deserted her.

 

"You're right. After all, we've never spoken before today. As far as I know we've never even been in the same room. I wouldn't have even known you existed if your father hadn’t saved my life."

 

"What?" Her voice was breathless now, and it was unclear if Oracle even heard her because the other person just kept on talking.

 

"He made some offhand comment about you and of course I barely bothered to remember it at the time. Only after I heard about his death did it really come back to me. That's when I decided to look you up. Those first few weeks were pretty harsh weren't they?"

 

They had been. When her father had come back, she had been left with almost no resources, a talent but almost no training, and a host of inherited enemies still trying to crush her father's legacy. She had had to learn fast, adapting her spells in ridiculous ways to surprise her foes and gain the upper hand. She had built up the reputation intentionally, claiming the persona of the untouchable woman, full of secrets and hidden agendas, manipulating everyone to her own ends. To the public, she was famous and she flaunted it. To the hidden, she was a powerful and uncontrollable prize to be claimed by the most worthy.

 

Oracle was right, exactly right, but that only made Zee raise her defenses. "If you say one more thing about my father, or my past I will send the most powerful curse I know through this phone."

 

Silence stretched for a long 10 count before Oracle spoke. "All right, if that's what you want. Did you have any other questions or should I move on to the reason for this call."

 

"Don't bother. You can find yourself another consultant because I'm not taking the job."

 

"Actually, I'm not the one who wanted the hire you."

 

Zee paused in taking the phone out of her shoulder. Dammit, one of these days that streak of curiosity was going to get her killed. "Fine, you got 2 minutes before I hang up, but only because you tipped me off before. After this we're even."

 

"I'll try to make it count then. First, what is your opinion on the Lords recent actions?"

 

"They're about as subtle as a brick. Not that it really matters, they stay out of my way, I will stay out of theirs." Zee was back to gesturing. This time it was a condescending wave, as if brushing away a moth that had flown to close.

 

"True, none of them are truly magically inclined, except perhaps Wonder Woman. Even she doesn't really weave spells like you do though. In fact it's the only real hole in their defenses."

 

Zee was tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair and staring at her phone as if it could somehow tell Oracle's true purpose. "Your point?"

 

"I believe someone else has noticed this fact and has started to take action."

 

"I'm still not seeing where this has anything to do with me." Zee interrupted.

 

Oracle didn't seem to mind, she just paused a beat before explaining. "I like to keep track of things, follow patterns and such. Over the past several months an interesting trend has come to my attention. A number of members from the magical community have been contacted by certain individuals. Each of the mages contacted vanished no more than two weeks after the initial meeting. I have records of 37 such cases taking place in the last two months alone. I've done extensive research into each of those cases and discovered only two common threads. First: the person they met with was either recorded as being dead or didn't exist at all. And second: in each case the mage seemed to leave willingly. The victim's profiles have similarities as well of course. Though they were of different economic and racial backgrounds all except four seem to be of an anti-Lords slant. Most of them also have very little in the way of family life. One thing that did strike me as odd, though I admit I am no expert, from what I can tell you their magical talents and specialties were extremely varied."

 

Zee was waving her hand in a get on with it gesture. "Okay I get it, people are disappearing. Why are you telling me?"

 

"As I said, I've done quite a bit of investigation into this matter. Since no crime has actually been committed I would normally considerate enough to watch and wait; but some of the initial conversations managed to get caught on camera and in two of those, the word Cadmus was slipped into the conversation."

 

Oracle fell silent and Zee found herself waiting for the punch line. "If you think that explains anything, I'm going to hang up because that's about as clear as mud."

 

"No, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't tell you much about Cadmus because I don't know much about it myself. In a way that's my point. Please understand, I am very good at what I do. In this age there is almost nothing that cannot be accessed electronically if you know where to look. Moreover it is very hard to hide anything of any importance or size. People talk, rumors spread, professionals brag to their colleagues, and when something goes wrong you get cell phone videos popping up all over YouTube and conspiracy sites running wild. From what I can tell Cadmus has been active for over two years. All the signs point to an extremely large, possibly black ops, organization. I can't say for sure because the only piece of information I have any confidence in was a log I found by chance indicating that they might have a genetics lab."

 

"Right, a mysterious black ops genetics lab that is for some reason snatching up members of the magical community despite them leaving without a fight. Oh, and somewhere in all that the Lords are involved." Zee was about to make another sarcastic comment but then she started to realize what she had actually said. The possible implications were scary. Just because the mages had gone without a fight didn't mean they had gone of their own free will, and after they had vanished who was to say what had happened to them. While the signs pointed to them being gathered for a reason, there was no indication that that reason was altruistic. It wasn't unheard of for practitioners to be hunted; history had plenty of examples of exactly that. There were plenty of reasons why the magical community stayed hidden even now. It wasn't like just a handful of them had disappeared either. Groups of practitioners tended to be extremely close knit.

 

Why hadn't she heard of this before? Why was it some stranger who finally filled her in? Unless, Oracle was lying. That was certainly a possibility, and at this point a bit of a comforting one.

 

Oracle seemed to think that the silence had stretched long enough. "Zatanna, I believe they're getting bolder, and you are very close to the demographic they are looking at. I'm not going to tell you to stay away from them, but I will ask you to be careful. People who are that good at hiding normally have a reason they don't want to be found. I know you don't really trust me yet, but if you ever need my help, with Cadmus or with anything else, I'll support you."

 

This time Zee really didn't know what to say. If Oracle had been controlling or sarcastic or condescending or pretty much anything, Zee could've held onto her anger and skepticism. The fear and concern in Oracle's voice had caught her off guard though. She told herself it was an act, it was just another ploy calculated to get under her skin and gain her trust. Except Oracle hadn't asked for anything. She had given the warning and then fallen silent. As skeptical as she normally was Zee had to admit that Oracle appeared to be exactly what she said she was.

 

"I'll watch my back."

 

"I know, you always do." This time Oracle seemed to smile before she cut the connection.

 

Zatanna puffed out a breath as she looked down at the dead phone in her hand. Somehow she got the feeling that this little molehill of a problem was going to turn into a mountain a lot sooner than later. Her phone beeped, a name and number appearing on the screen.

 

< The Oracle Network: 145-555-7991 >

 

Zee closed her phone. Since it seemed to be her move, she had some preparations to take care of.

 

* * *

Bludhaven was corrupt; not corrupt in the same ways Gotham was corrupt, but rot was rot. Luckily, wherever there was rot there were bound to be rats.

Dick had been hearing rumors on the streets for a while now. Someone was getting a group together, heists were being planned. The Lords absence was being felt and naturally the darker element was stretching its legs in response.  Nothing overt yet; nothing that required Nightwing. Richard Knight on the other hand might get into enough trouble to hear something.

Dick ran some cheap gel through his hair making it stand up in every direction looking rebellious and crazy. He already had on black jeans and a brown leather jacket that had seen plenty of better days. He put the final touches on his disguise as he slipped into the new persona.

Richard Knight was a young man who had come into a bit of money a while back and proceeded to squander it. This had made him quite popular for a time. Now he was a relatively familiar face in some of the rougher neighborhoods. He liked to indulge more then was healthy and put on a tough act that was obviously bravado spawned by a modest talent.  Richard seemingly had more than his share of luck and was willing to be a cheap extra hand as long as no blatant laws were broken.

He was a fun character to play. Dick had created him soon after he moved to Bludhaven in order to keep an eye on things.

Satisfied that he looked the part Dick closed his eyes, settling into the character and locking his own personality away deep within himself.

He had never been all that good at shifting persona’s like this, but Bruce had insisted. When Batman insisted you learned or you got the hell out. Dick had learned. He still only had a few personas he could do well, but when he opened his eyes it was Rich Knight who stood in front of the scratched mirror.

With his chin up and his shoulders back Rich stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and went to find his bike. Frank, a technician at the garage five blocks from Dick Grayson’s apartment, knew Rich by sight.

“Well I’ll be damned, if it isn’t Richey-boy” Frank pulled a stained cloth out of a back pocket and wiped the oil off his hands. “I was beginning to think I was going to get to keep that ride of yours.”

“Not a chance man.” Rich spoke with an accent that had hints of New York and Chicago heavily overlaid by exaggerated ghetto. 

 

Frank shook his head. “That ride is wasted on a punk like you.”

 

“So says the old fart. She ready for a night out?” Rich ran a loving hand over the seat of the classic Harley as he wheeled it out to the center of the room. 

 

“She's ready. Full tank and purring like a kitten, I even changed out that faulty valve so you won’t get that clicking anymore.”

 

“You're the best Frank.” 

 

Frank handed him the helmet and hit the button that would open the main garage door. 

 

“Just bring her back in one piece this time. Next time, I may not be able to put her back together.”

 

Rich flipped down the visor on the helmet and kicked the motorcycle to life. His words were barely audible. “No promises.” 

 

Several bars saw him over the next few hours. He flirted with girls way out of his league, drank less then it seemed like and made friends with anyone who was drunk enough to talk to him. At a hole in the wall place called Mac's on the lower east side he finally hit pay dirt.

 

The guy at the bar went by the handle of Jack Frost, and the most accurate description of him was super-villain groupie. Bleached white hair with a lot of dirty white and dark blue in his outfit, he looked like he belonged in the background of a Mr. Freeze bank heist. 

 

Before the Lords had nearly wiped out super-villains there had been a whole sub-culture that dedicated itself to the bad guys. It was all about rebellion and freedom from the system and hey the villains had to get henchmen from somewhere. In more recent years that group had either migrated towards the resistance or wandered aimlessly searching for tid-bits about their lost idols. This guy was definitely the latter.

 

Rich took a seat a few stools down from Jack and looked around for a good conversation starter. The bar didn't provide him with much. Old brick walls with an unused dart board in one corner formed the backdrop for well-worn tables and chairs that were sturdy enough to survive the not infrequent bar fights. The bar it's self was unremarkable save for being wider than most, probably so patrons couldn't reach across it as easily. 

 

A TV was tucked up into a corner behind the bar. No one was paying much attention to it since it wasn't showing anything football related, but it gave Rich the opening he needed.

 

Rich spent several minutes rolling his eyes at the talk show before shaking his head in disgust. “Jeese, can you believe this crap?”

 

Jack glanced at Rich, then up at the TV. It was some satire skit that was supposedly social commentary but managed to ignore the only real issue of any importance. Then again, putting the Lords in even a questionable light could end up with bad results. Dick would have rationalized it, Rich just got pissed off.

 

“Grow a spine.” Rich sneered at the screen before turning back to his drink and muttering into the cup. “Cowards, won't even admit they see what's coming.”

 

“Who says it's coming. I figure we're already neck deep.” Frost had clearly gone through a few rounds, but even that might not have been enough. Picking out a mark was only the first step and getting them to talk wasn't nearly as easy as the movies made it seem.

 

Rich let out a bark of harsh laughter. “True that.” He took a minute to look over the man. “So who are you supposed to be?” Dick may have read Frost's file but Rich had never met him.

 

“Jack. You?”

 

“Rich.” he tipped his glass at the other man and took a swallow. “So... Mr. Freeze?” he gestured at Jack's outfit. 

 

This was the dangerous part. In some settings a person could get arrested on suspicion just for mentioning villains or former villains. This wasn't one of those places but neither of them knew for certain that the other wasn't some kind of spy. Rich was seemingly drunk enough not to care but Jack lived on the edge of that danger and seemed to have better instincts.

 

“I never liked Gotham.”

 

Rich let out another bark of a laugh. “Got that right. Place is a shit hole. Even their hero is a loon.”

 

Jack was watching him now, leaning over the bar with his forearms marking off a section of the countertop as mine. “You live there?”

 

“Used to. Four, five years something like that.” Rich shook his head and took another drink. “Place is a mess. You know what they used to say? The lunatics are in charge of the asylum. Not now though, I heard it's all scrubbed clean. Not sure I believe it. Heh but then I quit that city as soon as I could so maybe I'm not the best judge.” Rich's eyes had been wondering over the bottles and odd nic-nacs behind the bar. He nodded at Jack without taking his eyes from a battered 'no passing' sign. “You don't really sound like a Gothamite. Guess I should have guessed.”

 

Frost could have ended it there, just stayed silent, or he could have changed the subject and Rich would have had to spend the next half hour getting him back on topic. It was how these things went. Too much pressure and the mark would close up. It was like picking a lock, a delicate touch and patience were the important things. Tonight he was lucky.

 

Jack picked up his beer and spun around on the stool so he was leaning against the bar and facing the rest of the room. "Nope not me. I'm from Keystone originally, Haven't been back in a while though."

 

Rich was nodding. "Right, now I gotcha. Should have figured; I've actually got some friends in Central. Nice place, bit too open for a city boy like me though." He shrugged.

 

"Well, that's because you have no taste." 

 

"Or maybe I just don't like red." 

 

The grin Rich wore was taunting. Jack matched it with a smile of his own.

 

"Nothing wrong with red, though, it's not exactly my color either."

 

"Right, Cold." Rich made a gun gesture and fired at Frost. "Classic." Dick only knew the basics about Captain Cold and Rich wouldn't have known more than what the papers might have said, but he could fake it well enough.

 

Jack shrugged. “Used to be.” he spun back around on the stool, rolling his now empty beer bottle between his hands. “Used to be.” then he grinned and Rich could tell from that expression alone that he hadn't just gotten lucky, he had struck gold. “You ever see the Glider?”

 

Rich shook his head. In truth Dick knew even less about the Golden Glider then he knew about her brother Cold. She hadn't been active for very long before the Lords clamped down on everyone. He seemed to remember that she had worked with Cold at first doing the brother sister act, but she had also worked with Mirror Master and the other Rogues. 

 

Her powers were the confusing part. She had used ice skating as her gimmick at first but there had been more to it than that. Unfortunately since she was only a minor villain and wasn't known for traveling outside Central and Keystone, Nightwing had never done much research on her let alone memorize her files. 

 

Jack went on without noticing Rich's hesitation. “Amazing, I only saw her in action the once but she was beyond anything. She was shining, right? And not just her costume, though that was something to see.” he gave Rich a suggestive look. “All those scarves and golden bits in just the right spots. Then she went past me and I swear she was flying. I couldn't look away.”

 

Rich waited for Frost to spill that little clue about what the bad guys were up to. Jack was like a love struck slave once he started in on describing the Glider. Rich nodded in the right places and made appreciative noises when needed.

 

“It was like one of those snow globes, with the frost on everything, and shining even though it was summer. There she was in the middle of it, spinning like nothing could touch her. They never got her you know. A lot of the rogues managed to slip away. I heard she's in LA now doing... something.” he seemed to realize what he was saying just a minute too late.

 

And there it was. Rich finished his beer. He would finish his night out, no need to cut anything short, but his mind was already elsewhere. Dick Grayson-Wayne hadn't made a tabloid appearance for a while. Borrowing the family jet for a spontaneous trip to LA might just be the perfect thing to fix that. 

* * *

 

When Iris Allen-West heard the screech of the back door, she unconsciously grabbed at the papers around her, flattening them onto the desk in defense against the gust of wind that wasn’t coming. Even after two years, some habits were hard to break. Odd though that it had been the back door. She had trained Wally, and Barry before him, to use the back door on the pretense that it was safer and would better hide their identities. While that may have been the truth, Iris had another reason. The back door also had a screen door, which meant a speedster had to slow down to almost normal speeds to open it. She couldn’t stop them from running in the house but she did try to stop them from going supersonic.

 

Under her fingers, the papers rustled.

Wally was behind her pacing the length of her study, his words running together as he talked. She couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying, but his tone was more enthusiastic then she had heard it in months. She had to remind herself very sternly that she was angry with him.

“Wally, for heaven’s sake, stop. You’re going to wear out my carpet. You know I don’t like it when you barge into my office.” 

He seemed to flinch then ducked out of the room, peering back in through the door. “Sorry, I need a favor.”

That got her attention. For ages now Wally had just been listless; going through the motions of life without actually living it. When he had asked to borrow her car to go see his friend Dick she had thought he might be coming out of it. She had been pleased to agree. She had been less pleased when she had seen all the extra miles on it, not even mentioning the gas. She wanted to support whatever it was that had managed to push him out of this depression, but that had done more than push her patience.

Iris shooed him out of the doorway and headed for the kitchen. Only when she was leaning against the counter, coffee in hand did she nod at him to speak. By that time he was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet which was at least a step up from pacing.

“Well, it’s, kind of…” He puffed out a breath and seemed to deflate, slumping onto one of the stools at the small kitchen island. The buzzing that had accompanied his movements so far faded. “We need to have a barbeque this Saturday.”

Well that had come out of nowhere. At least she had always been quick to adapt.

“Why?”

“Well, I kind of said we were having one. We need people too, I said there would be people.”

“Oh really, and who was this said too?”

“Well, umm, a friend.” He had started buzzing again. His fingertips started tracing the grains in the countertop.

“A friend, I see. Well is this friend anyone I know.”

“I, umm, no, I don't think you've met her.” he was blushing now and apparently the counter was more fascinating then she had ever noticed.

“Her?” Wally said something at a speed that made it unintelligible. “Language, Wally.” Iris chided him, taking a satisfied sip of her coffee.

“Okay, her name's Linda, and she's in my sociology class and she's perfect, but for some reason she still talks to me even though I'm just me and she's perfect. Except then I opened my big mouth and invited her to a party that doesn't exist and if I blow this she'll think I'm some kind of crazy shut in without any friends who's so desperate I have to make stuff up, and I'm not, except I so kind of am and she can't find out because then she'll never talk to me again so please please please help me.”

Not for the first time Iris wondered how people with super speed could talk that fast without pausing for breath. His words had come in a stream that she somehow managed to understand despite the at least double normal speed. In a way she found it sweet. Wally hadn't acted like this in a long time. She had known he still had his speed, but she hadn't seen it for so long that she had started to worry that he was never going to get over this. 

Not that she had found it any easier. Iris had always known that one day her husband might not come home, but it still seemed unreal when it happened. If not for Wally she might have broken down. Instead she had become an anchor, someone he could depend on and come to any time he needed it. She had already decided to help.

“I have two conditions.” she kept her voice stern even though her heart had completely melted by that point. Wally nodded eagerly.

“First: you have to do all the clean up. The yard is a mess, the hedges need trimming and if anyone is going to use the barbeque it's going to need cleaning out. Then there's the deck furniture, I don't normally have company so most of it is still buried in the garage.” She made eye contact to be sure he was paying attention. He was. “Second: you have to come over here and give your favorite aunt a big hug.”

He was out of his chair and around the table before she could finish.

“Yes. Thank you, you're the best. This is going to be awesome.”

She hugged him fiercely before he could get bored with it.

“Just don't think this get's you out of trouble for my car.”

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Taking the Wayne Enterprises jet to LA meant the flight would be about two hours longer then it would have been using other transport. Come to that it wouldn't have been overly difficult to hack into JL systems and highjack the teleporters. That would have rather defeated the point though since he wanted to be seen as Dick Grayson-Wayne rather then Nightwing.

 

An airplane wasn't exactly his first choice of places to be stuck for several hours. Being cut off from Barbara and all his other contacts made him nervous no mater how many times he told himself that things were going to happen whether he was there or not and there was nothing he could do. There was just so much less he could do with only a laptop and not even an internet connection.

 

Dick assured the very pretty flight attendant that he would be fine and yes he would call if he needed anything at all. She, the pilot and himself were the only people on the luxury plane so Dick didn't need to worry about privacy. He settled back and opened the laptop, intending to go over a few case files to pass the time. Instead he found that someone ( Barbara ) had changed his desktop. Instead of an old Flying Graysons poster his screen was purple with a yellow arrow pointing to a folder that definitely hadn't been there when he had turned off his laptop back in his apartment.

 

Dick just rolled his eyes and smiled. This kind of thing had become typical of their relationship. He hadn't told her he was planing on stealing the family jet but she hadn't let a little thing like that stop her. He spent a few minutes fixing his desktop before clicking on the folder Barbara had named 'for your trip'.

 

The folder held three more folders named, 'important', 'please consider', and 'if you get bored' along with a video file named 'watch me first'. Dick knew Barbara well enough to know that the boredom folder would be filled with cute cat pics and links to conspiracy websites with occasional music videos thrown in. The important folder wouldn't hold anything too urgent or she would have given him more of a heads up, but she did consider everything in there need to know. The folder labeled 'please consider would be filled with leads on ongoing cases and interactions that they should keep an eye on. It was the video file though that caught his eye. If Barbara had thought it important enough to bring to the front then it must have been something with large repercussions.

 

Dick double checked the audio and after glancing toward the front to make sure the stewardess wasn't about to interrupt, pressed play.

 

The angle was one Dick recognized immediately. It was from the cave, not one of the camera's he had placed but part of the normal over-paranoid security Bruce favored. He could see the main screen of the computer as well as a rather good reflection of his former mentor's face in the mettle of the spectrometer. The date of the footage was from four days previous.

 

For the first minute of the film Dick found his own situation strangely mirrored. Batman sat at the console going over old files and security footage from when he had apparently been busy handling the League situation. Batman had the most extensive monitoring network on the planet but even with the most advanced pattern recognition software things would slip through the cracks unless a human eye took up the slack. Batman sat with his hands resting lightly atop the keys and his eyes relaxed.

 

Dick knew the technique. It could be used to pick out patterns and things that were out of place, while keeping the mind relaxed. The active meditation was one of Bruce's favorites, especially when he was running low on sleep. Dick didn't bother with the screens, instead watching Bruce's face for the moment when something would happen.

 

When Batman went rigid, pausing the screen and rewinding, Dick did the same watching for what had set off the dark knight. It was a map of the country, or part of the country, with Gotham in one corner spanning down to the southwest, Central and Keystone. Dozens of lines crossed the map displayed in different colors and widths to indicate various things.

 

Dick didn't need to look for the trigger. The moment he had realized what map was being displayed he had picked out the thin gold thread. It really didn't look like much. It might have been the thinest line on the map, stretching in a relatively straight line between the major cities. Where the other lines were broad deliberate curves or ruler straight angles, this string twitched, jumping off track only to return to it's path. The color was different as well; all the other lines held to one of two patterns. Either the line would maintain a steady shade or it would slowly shift between light and dark. This thread changed color so rapidly that at some points it looked like a dashed line. Once you saw the differences they were hard to miss.

 

Dick watched the rest of the film to confirm Batman's reaction but he already knew what he was seeing.

 

The timestamp on the film was from a few weeks prier. From a day when an old friend had dropped in unannounced. The thread had been Wally, and now Batman knew.

 

Dick settled back in his seat. This changed things. Batman's next move could change the game.

 

Dick looked through the other files Oracle had sent him, storing the information away for when he would need it. Mostly though it wasn't important enough to distract him. By the time the plane started it's descent hours later he had attacked the problem from every angle and had exhausted himself with the effort. With the information in Batman's hands there was only one decision left for Nightwing to make. By giving him the file Oracle was leaving it up to him.

 

Should he tell Wally?

 

Stuffing his computer into it's bag harder then necessary, Dick closed his eyes and resisted the urge to just refuse to get off the plane. Maybe if he never came down he wouldn't have to face what was waiting for him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Red Arrow was finally back in action, or at least he was no longer confined to a bed. Liz still insisted he keep his arm in a sling outside of rehabilitation, but he could use it if he needed to, and that along with being allowed to carry his bow was a world above his last few weeks. And he knew just what to do with his recovered freedom.

 

There hadn't been much to do in bed apart from read reports and complain about the food so for once his paperwork was all in order. He really should thank Liz at some point. If he hadn't gone through all those reports he wouldn't have seen the opportunity that had emerged.

 

The resistance had been fighting a losing battle for a long time. Every day they scramboled for any advantage that would keep their people in the field. Red Arrow may have started out as a hero but as a leader of the resistance he wasn't above buying, cheating or stealing any technology that could give them an edge. In this case the piece of tech was a new model anti-stream teleporter currently being tested at STAR labs Decota.

 

Normally Decota was a red zone for the resistance since one of the Lord's lieutenants was permanently stationed there. Decota had one of the highest meta-human populations in the nation. Which made it a hot bed of gangs and upped the anti for anyone from out of town. Roy had never been there but the reports indicated that the lieutenant stationed there was one of the most active in the nation. He had called in Lord assistance four times in the last year when the city had been about to go up in flames. And those were only the most extreme cases. This guy could handle super-villain level threats without aid.

 

With criminal activity in an upswing though, he was being hard pressed. The icing on the cake was that the with the Lords gone he couldn't call for backup even if he wanted to. Roy might have tried something even if he had been able to call in the cavalry. Untraceable teleportation was just too good to pass up. With the right team they could be in and out before anyone could react. It would be a snatch and grab that would put them ahead for months.

 

The key was choosing the right team. He needed someone or rather someones, he could trust but who still had the skills to pull it off. Natasha would have been ideal, but she had already retreated back into her cover. Thinking back the only person he had worked that close with was Ollie. 

 

A cloud descended on him for a moment and he pushed it back with rage. If he thought about his mentors death to much he would do something he really shouldn't.

 

No what he really needed was a professional. Someone who knew the game and wasn't afraid to break the rules but would still follow orders provided they were paid. He needed a mercenary. Or a pair of mercenaries. Always better to work in three when possible, that way if one person went down there was a person to carry you out and another to cover your exit. A driver wouldn't go amiss either. 

 

The list of qualifying people was not long.

 

He started down the mental list. There was the Tigress if she was still active, she had been underground for a while so he was out of touch. Cheshire was in the same boat; they had worked together in the past but lost touch when the heat had been turned up. There were always people like Floyd Lawton, but he didn't need a gun. He could do any sharpshooting himself. No, what he needed was a technician and someone who could handle crowds. 

Roy went back to the reports, shuffling through the scraps of paper on his desk one handed. Most of the reports had assumed he already knew about the hero, and it was true to a point, but because of it no one had said much about his fighting style or the limits of his powers. He was a meta Roy was sure of that at least. 

 

Eventually he found the report he was looking for. It had been apparently been written on one of those spiral notebooks and then had the papers torn out haphazardly. The scribbles were enough of an encryption without any kind of code. It had taken Roy an hour and a half just to work his way through the handwriting but he seemed to remember a section dedicated to cursing the hero.

 

Roy eventually found it and fought through the poor syntax for a second time. Mostly it was complaints intermixed with curses, but there was one line that managed to answer a question.

 

_Then he fried it, just zap, even melted the wires and everything. Took me three effing weeks to find those couplings and..._

 

It descended back into obscenities after that. Still, it did provide an answer, Zap. Their hero was an electricity elemental. 

 

Lightning wielders weren't that uncommon but the number of people who could power a lightbulb and the number who could create ball-lightning was drastically different. This guy was in the big leagues, which meant they would need someone with at least equal power to counter him.

 

Roy leaned back and bit at his lip. For someone of that level it wasn't so much paying them that could be the problem. The Lords had made it a point to hunt down anyone with that much power. At one point it was either find a very good hiding spot sign on with your most hated enemies or end up with two little scars on your forehead. 

 

The problem rolled around his head like pencils in the bottom of a box. He leaned back in his chair and found his fingers idly tapping on the old keyboard, it was missing the B. You know as much as he hated the Lords being lumped in with the bad guys was a pain. When he had first joined the game it had been so easy, just pick up the phone and you could have a team-up ready to go in a few hours, less if the other person was near by. Now he didn't know who he could call and even if a number did spring to mind he had to wonder about the line being tapped.

 

Several pieces swimming around in his head connected and he found himself grinning there was one person he could reach, and he wouldn't even need a number 

 

Livewire had escaped justice by jumping into the power grid and living in the wires that made up the grid for the eastern seaboard. The Lords couldn't flush her out without blacking out the whole east coast. Even better she was free to go pretty much anywhere and could hear every communication sent through a radio, tv or telephone. The resistance had a standing agreement with her when it came to information. Most people thought of that and didn't go any farther, they didn't remember that she had once been on Superman's list of rogues. Livewire would certainly cover the powerhouse position with the added benefits of being able to take over any technology Red Arrow couldn't hack.

 

Who could be their third then? Dealing with electronics was good but there would be scientist and security. If the hero did show up Livewire would have her hands full and a stray bullet could be just as good as a superhuman punch to finish someone's career. Plus Livewire was about as far from subtle as you could get and if they were going to pull this off waiting until the last minute to set off the alarm was the only way to do it. He needed someone charismatic, with a light hand, but who could still get the job done. As far as Roy could remember that described absolutely no one on his list of mercenaries. Crap.

 

Red Arrow picked up his coffee mug, found it empty and set about remedying the situation. The small office he had claimed was only two doors down from the small kitchenette at the back of the safe-house. Roy had changed locations since his accident, and was now residing in a renovated office building. Datalock LLC. Rented out three floors and while the company did occasionally do the business it advertised mostly the inner rooms held futons rather then servers. Liz liked it because it was half the distance from the hospital meaning she could check up on him twice as often.

 

She found him trying to find a clean cup one handed. She pushed him away and took the coffee pot from him. She found a cup in the dishwasher which someone had apparently run and filled his cup adding sugar before he could ask. She passed him the cup as if daring him to not to accept. He took it and drank so he would have an excuse not to talk.

 

After a minute her shoulders dropped as it became clear he wasn't going to try escaping out a window or something. “Any more pain?”

 

“I'm fine.”

 

“That's not a real answer.”

 

“I don't need medication, I told you.” He held up his good hand before she could start to protest. “I'm not doing anything strenuous, just the exercises and paperwork.”

 

She considered for a moment then seemed to accept it. She started to turn but paused and reached into her bag. “I checked the mail on the way up.”

 

There were three envelopes in the stack she passed him. The electric bill, a Best Buy advertising scheme and yet another report, this one typed up by the Head of the resistance in Central City, the Pied Piper. 

 

Red Arrow grinned. He may have just found the third member of his team.

 

 

 

 

 

It had been a long time since Iris had pulled out her green notebook. It was a small thing, just a pocket sized address book with a green cloth cover that was faded and fraying at the edges. Once way back in college she had been whisked off her feet by a scarlet clad hero and in a moment of fangirlish awe she had pulled the notebook out of her pocket and asked for an interview, or at least an autograph. Her then to be husband had given her the latter grinned at the former and vanished in a gust of wind.

Later the same notebook had resurfaced when she had met Jay Garric and his wife Joan. Over the years it had shifted from an autograph book into something closer to an address book. Names and numbers were scribbled next to autographs and the occasional interview notes. It was probably an enormous security risk to someone but really who would come to her looking for Carol Farris, or Liberty Belle’s phone number, and no one could read shorthand nowadays in any case.

Retrieving the notebook from the drawer in her bedside table gave her a quiet little thrill. Having Wally spring this party on her was the most fun she had indulged in for quite a while. His excitement had been contagious.

The short notice was what pushed her to bring out her green book. She had asked a few coworkers but she wasn’t really close with anyone at the station and most of them had had plans in any case. Also there was always the distance that sprang up when heroes and those not in the know were invited to the same parties. Since she had already sent an invite to Wally’s old friend Dick and Jessy had said she might be able to swing by for a few hours. Was Max still living in Blue Valley? And why on earth couldn’t she find Joan’s number, ah there it was.

The phone was picked up on the third ring. “Hello, Garric residence.”

“Joan? It’s Iris, is this a good time?”

“Iris.” Even through the phone Iris could hear the joy in her words. Joan was like that. “I haven’t heard from you in a dog’s age. It’s always a good time dear how are you?”

“I’m good.” It was the truth. For once she wasn’t feeling that underlying anger at the Lords or worry about her nephew. This was a good day. “More than good actually.”

“Well now, that sounds promising. Is there an occasion?”

Iris laughed at the tone Joan used and suddenly it was like she was back in school gossiping about who was hooking up with who and plotting to sneak out. She had missed this, she hadn’t even realized how much. “Well, in a way I guess there is.”

“Don’t leave me in suspense dear, tell.”

“I’m being blackmailed.”

“Oh?” there was a hint of worry to replace some of the bubbles in her voice.

“Nothing bad, it’s Wally.”

“I see.” And again the worry was gone this time replaced by wry amusement. “And what has the boy done this time? You said he was blackmailing you?”

“Yes, he wants to throw a party.”

It was Joan’s turn to laugh, rich and full.

“Oh, it gets better. He wants to have this party because he’s already invited someone to it.”

“Quite the turn around, she have a name?”

“Linda. Oh you should have seen him Joan it was priceless. He nearly dragged me into the kitchen and then every time he talked about her he couldn’t stop buzzing. I haven’t seen him like that since he first put on his costume. After all this time I thought…”

“I know, we felt the same. I take it you called to invite us then?”

“If you’re free on Saturday.”

“Wouldn’t miss it. It’ll give Jay a chance to stretch his legs. Anything we can bring.”

“It’s a barbeque, bring anything you like. Just make sure to bring a lot of it.”

“Of course, I’m not old enough to have forgotten about that.”

“Joan?”

“Yes dear?”

Iris hesitated, and her enthusiasm briefly faded. “If you think of anyone else who might be free, I want this to work. I mean, it’s just been so long since…”

“Yes, I’ll spread the word. Don’t worry Iris, things are turning around, you can feel it."


	11. Chapter 11

  
  


The skies of Dekota were full of lightning. This was in no way unusual so most of the city paid it no mind, after all it was a nice day and there were things to do. The hero of Dekota was watching over them.

  
  


Static was generally fine with that mentality, it meant that the people he was trying to protect felt safe. Then again, it did make his job a bit more difficult. When people weren't running away from the dangerous criminals it made the hero's job that much harder, and falling debris wasn't always easy to predict.

  
  


Take his current battle; Talon and her harpies weren't difficult so much as annoying. There were four of them, each with a different ratio of feathers and flesh. On their own he had defeated them all easily but together the flock was a pain. They would storm him from different directions, flanking him before he could pull off a shot against any single one of them. Then when he did manage to take one of them out, they had started dropping debris over the city which he had no choice but to catch or see some poor bystander be crushed flat.

  
  


Static lined up his sights on Talon, barely getting off a shot before Redwing was sweeping in to slash at him. He spun in the air, his flying disk rotating faster than even these expert flyers like these could swerve. Reaching out he managed to catch Redwings's wrist and electricity sparked between them eliciting a cry from the harpy. Griffin was suddenly on him; claws tearing at his back and neck. He ripped at his hair and somehow managed not to directly touch Static's skin. Static pushed his aura outward biting off the cry of pain as he released Redwing. The single Male of the group spasmed as the electricity that lived in Static's blood expanded outward in a sphere. Griffin clenched and his claws cut through Static's coat and into his flesh for a moment before he started to fall, twitching.

  
  


Static managed to keep his aura extended as the world went red and black. It was exhausting as hell but it earned him a momentary reprieve.

  
  


The last member of the group, Sparrow, a young woman who was entirely human apart from the wings, dived, managing to catch Griffin after a few seconds. Her wings pumped as she tried to get under his shoulder. 

  
  


Static turned back to Talon. She was the one who had started all this, hell she still held the bag.

  
  


Half an hour ago the harpies had mobbed an armored car. Static had heard the distress call on the radio and had managed to scatter them before they could grab more than the one bag. He would have liked to see these four locked in an appropriately sized birdcage but getting the money back took priority. He had been dealing with these guys for weeks now and they were a pain. He could use his magnetics to fly and to a point he was more maneuverable, but they had speed on him in spades. If they hadn't been weighed down they would have already been halfway back to their roost. With an injured member however there was a standoff.

  
  


Static wouldn't let them escape with both the money and an injured member slowing them down. They weren't going to leave Griffin but Talon wasn't overly willing to leave the money either. If they stayed and fought, Static had the advantage. Choice time. 

  
  


Talon let out a string of curses and tried for height, waving the others off. Sparrow gratefully took the opening to escape with the unconscious Griffin. Redwing however let out a war cry as she launched herself at Static in a raking sweep.

  
  


Aerial battles really weren't his thing. Just because Static could imitate flight didn't mean he was an expert flyer. He had learned more out of necessity than anything else. Plus, it took a hell of a lot of energy; there was a reason most people who used lightning or electricity couldn't do it. This meant that when Redwing attacked, diverting enough energy to shield would probably cause him to drop out of the sky. Pulling that aura trick earlier had really drained his batteries.

  
  


Static grabbed at her as her talons dug into his coat, sending a low pulse through his hands. Sure enough, he fell a foot or so, but since he had been expecting it he was able to twist, pulling her over his shoulder. She went tumbling, flapping her wings as she spun head over heels. Redwing had plummeted over twentyfeet before managing to right herself. By that point it would be an uphill battle, literally, if she wanted to reenter the combat.

  
  


Static righted himself, kneeling on his flying disk and put his full concentration into shooting skyward after Talon. The harpy's wings beat harder, refusing the defeat she was faced with. Now would be a really good time to use a net, if he had one.

He chased her skyward, grabbing the bag of coins. With a burst of effort he sent a charge through the conductive material. Talon gasped out a curse and released the bag into Static's hands. She slowed only enough to throw a curse over her shoulder as she swooped away, faster by far without her burden. 

Static let himself sink back below the level of the rooftops. He was tired. It had been a long day even before the chase what with high-school, helping his dad at the center and he still had homework to do, and an internship to get to. Stupid college prep work. And that was only today. For weeks now the bad guys had been jumping on each other to pull stupid stunts and it all cut into his time. Right now he didn't care how poorly his college application looked, he just wanted to crash onto his bed and sleep. He was less then two dozen feet off the ground when his Shock-box, the non-traceable radio he and his friend Richie had built, crackled to life. 

"Yo, Static, you there Bro?"

Static grabbed the box off his belt and pressed the button to talk. "I'm here. Please tell me no one is trying to steal the Mayor's golf clubs again."

"Not that I know of but if you don't get down here fast you'll wish someone was."

"Let me Guess, Dr. Flanagan?" 

"Yep, I told him your work with the center was running late but he's like two minutes away from the responsibility lecture."

"Oh man. Try to stall him. I'm on my way."

"No promises V."

Static clipped the radio back to his belt, put aside his wiriness and built up his charge again. No matter how much he complained he really did need the internship. It came with a scholarship that he really couldn't do without. He could rest when he was dead.

It took Static four minutes to get to STAR labs and another three to change back into Vergil Hawkins and hide his costume. He walked into the lab as an average African American high-school male. He wore jeans, a teal shirt with a three-pears-and-a-dish-towellogo on the back and his dreadlocks were held back with a large rubber band. He hadn't been able to find a hair tie and there was a weird hair policy in the labs. 

Richie looked up from where he was squinting at a pair of monitors. "V, you made it." He took a harder look over the top of his glasses. "Whoa, you ok? You look slagged."

"Talon. I'll tell you the details later." he sank into the seat next to Richie. "What are we working on?"

"Got the data back from the last test. I'm going over it."

"Really? Sweet, what've we got?" 

The Simultaneous Location Information Duplicator-Eradicator Project was Richie and Vergil's brain child. ok mostly Richie's but the prototype they had built as their entry had required more energy than they could syphon off the power grid,so Vergil had helped by acting as a power source. As it turned out the independent power source had been pretty important. It had taken them three weeks to find a way to integrate STAR lab's generators into the design.

Now, while STAR was technically in charge of the project and there were professionals working on it and everything, all the data was still handed over to them first and no one tried to undermine the designs. The two friends actually made a very good team. Vergil was the one who came up with crazy ideas that couldn't possibly work and Richie was the tall blond sarcastic one who tried to prove his friend wrong and ended up inventing a way to break the physical laws of the universe. Fun times were had by all and they only managed to blow up the lab twice; and the gas station seven and a quarter times but those didn't count. Really, there was no way they could have known ahead of time about the inverse effects of spacial dimensional multiplicity.

Vergil loved having powers and being a hero. He was helping people. He was even recognized as a lieutenant to the Justice Lords, how cool was that? Recently though, he thought Richie had gotten the better part of the deal. Being a super-brain may not have let his best friend fight super villains but everything Richie built, Vergil could then pass on to the Lords, that was if Batman or someone wasn't already secretly finding him. The two of them were helping people on a large scale, and they were still only seniors in high school.

Now if only the two-bit villains would give him some piece things would be awesome. 

  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


Dick had called in a favor.

  
  


Matt Hagen was an actor of surprising versatility taking on roles that ranged from traditional horror villain, to love interest in “Teatime” and later “Dinner and Drinks”; a pair of romantic comedies. He had been the protagonist for “Edge” the single season show of an ex-junky using his experience to go undercover for the cops. Once he had even played a spirit cursed to inhabit a sword that fell into the hands of a young fool. After four years no one seemed to remember his rocky start or the accident that had threatened to cut his career short before it had gotten off the ground. Then again the details of that accident weren't widely known. In fact, counting Mr. Hagen himself there were only four people who knew the truth. Dick of course was one of them.

  
  


Hagen had been filming in Gotham when it had happened. At the time he had been addicted to the off-the-market drug RenU. One night his suppliers had asked for something more than the cash that was standard and things had gone sour. The dealers had forced an overdose on him, and the still experimental drug had changed him.

  
  


Batman and Robin had shown up to break up the fight. Hagen had managed to stumble away and Batman had ignored the helpless victim in favor of more pressing crimes the next few nights. Robin had been curious and followed the trail to the temporary movie studio just in time to find a monster tearing it to shreds. Robin had switched from detective into hero mode without bothering to call for backup. There were civilians to see to and no matter what he threw at the creature nothing seemed to do any good.

  
  


The monster was as flexible as water but became as compact as trampled earth as soon as it needed a fist to slam Robin with. It was like he was made of mud, no maybe clay. How on earth was Robin supposed to stop a monster made of clay? The thing was big too, somewhere around eight or nine feet seemed to be its average with shoulders like a lineman and legs like tree trunks. Robin's only advantage seemed to be that it didn't really know what it was doing. One minute it would be acting almost human, clutching at its head and making sounds that might almost have been words. Then it would fall apart and lash out like an animal, acting completely on instinct.

  
  


It didn't take Robin long to figure out he was out of his weight class. Dodging and taunting the creature into chasing him were about the only things he could do. Once he was certain that they were the only ones left on the lot Robin had pretty much cut lose, emptying his belt of anything that he thought might make a dent. Electricity, ice pellets and even sonics didn't do diddly squat. Then, cornered in a large prop warehouse Robin had managed to trigger the sprinklers.

  
  


The clay man ( clay beast? Clay face? Hmmm. ) had howled and staggered, his flesh starting to melt away in globs. The Clayface fell forward and Robin, already exhausted, hadn't managed to dodge. Instead his gloves came forward, thebuilt in tazer coming to life with loud popping sounds.

  
  


The shape of the monster convulsed as the electricity met water and pseudo-flesh, and between the shudders Robin saw the man. He pulled back in shock and maybe a bit of fear. The clayface man collapsed on him, or over him rather since his form returned to mud when the electricity stopped. Robin found himself covered in muck. He couldn't have been more saturated if he tried.

The boy took off his mask and spat mud out of his mouth. This would probably require some explanation once he got back to the cave. Then he noticed the form congealing from the clay. The name came to his lips as soon as he recognized the features.

"Matt Hagen."

At the name the man seemed to come back to himself a little more, pulling his features into sharper focus and his extremities into a form that was no longer dripping goo. The man looked up in a haze, confusion replaced a moment later by recognition.

"I know you…"

Robin turned away, wiped off his mask as best he could and replaced it.

"Are you alright Mr. Hagen?"

The man opened his mouth, probably to give one of the standard answers, but his focus shifted and his form began to melt again.

"Focus, Mr. Hagen. Concentrate." Robin had no idea how changing form from mud to man would work but the clay monster hadn't been very coherent so it stood to reason that concentration would help.

The man started to hyperventilate, his eyes wide a losing color, sliding back into the mud-brown of the monster. Robin was tempted to start shaking the man or something. Hecouldn't be a very good actor if he couldn't even pull himself together. Then again maybe Robin was being a little unfair, after all he had just been through a very traumatic experience.

"Come on, pull yourself together! Go time! Action!"

At the last word Hagen blinked rapidly, gritting his teeth as he started mumbling to himself. Robin could only hear one word in ten and those didn't seem to make much sense, but the man was pulling himself back together, skin returning to its natural shade. Even the man's hair returned to a natural texture and consistency. He looked up, just a glance, and started taking slow measured breaths.

"Good, that's good, just hold it here. You'll be ok."

He shook his head. “I can't. Oh God, what's wrong with me? I'm losing it."

"Then you go back to being a rampaging monster, I take you down again and you end up in a lab or in jail." Robin said it without a hint of hesitation. It was the bare truth of what would happen if Robin was forced to fight this monster again. Although, next time he probably wouldn't wait to call for backup. Hagen seemed shaken by the possibility, because he apparently redoubled his efforts.

Robin sat there offering encouragement and smart remarks until Mr. Hagen seemed to calm down and settle into a haze where he could function to an extent and still keep his form, mostly. At some point they had moved to sit on the ground facing each other, Robin still covered in gunk and Hagen bare as the day he was born. Robin was certain he could have created clothes as well but apparently Hagen had more trouble with that or else he hadn't considered doing so. Well, that could come later.

"What now?" Matt's voice was soft and distant with his mind clearly focusing on something else.

"Now, you take a break from filming." Robin had had plenty of time to consider it while he was waiting for Matt to pull himself together. "You can claim that the monster injured you and the doctor had said you'll need a lot of peace and quiet while you recover. Then you rent a cabin in the middle of nowhere and stay there until you have total control of this. Then in a month or three you can return and be the amazing man of a million faces on the silver screen." Robin didn't mention the other possibilities; that he could go mad and lose himself entirely, that he could spend years trying to control it and never have more of a grasp then he did in that moment, that even if he did come back he could still be locked up if anyone found out, or that if looked at from the right angle, he now had a superpower and all the ups and downs that came with it.

Robin may have still been a kid but he was a good judge of people and he didn't think that Mr. Hagen was a bad guy, put in a bad spot, but not a bad guy.

"And, you take this." Robin said after a moment of silence. He was holding out one of his birdarangs, one of the tracking ones with a softly blinking red light. "It's a tracker, if you ever need help, break it and I'll see what I can do."

Ok it may have been a sucker-punch to pass him a tracker when he was so out of it, and pretend the only reason for it was because he wanted to help, but really he wasn't about to let a new power and one with that much destructive capability just wander off. When he got back to the cave he'd set up an algorithm to track Mr. Hagen. Better to keep it on his private server though, Batman would already have enough questions.

Amazingly enough Matt Hagen had done exactly as he had instructed. It had taken him almost six months hiding in a cabin in Montana before he returned to LA, and took the city by storm. There was a momentary hype when he returned and he used it to his advantage winning movie deals while the skeptical were still blinded. Robin had quietly kept track of him the whole time. Occasionally Robin would even let him know he was watching through quiet messages or silent appearances from the back of a crowd. Matt Hagen had become a pet project for him and reminding him that someone was watching seemed to help the man.

It wasn't until Robin quit, officially breaking it off with Batman that he had actually spoken to Matt again face to face. Dick had been in college then, on break between semesters. In truth Hagen was just another of the loose ends on his list, but even then he didn't want to bring Hagen onto Batman's radar. Robin had used every trick he had known of to sneak across the country showing up in the man's living room at five in the morning.

Matt had been up getting ready for a day on set, but when he saw the young man in the domino mask and red sweatshirt over a gold belt he decided to call in sick and his agent could deal with the fallout. It had been a short conversation all things considered. Robin had said he was going solo and that he had done his best to keep the man out of Batman's sights but he should still be careful. Hagen had thanked him and offered any help he could in the future. By that point things had started to go sour Hagen hadn't seemed all that comfortable with the direction things were going.

Robin had later pointed Oracle in his direction, but in his mind the actor would always be one of his agents.

Today he was taking advantage of the arrangement.

Nightwing caught up to the actor as he was leaving the studio, holding out paper for an autograph like just another fan.

"Who should I make it out to?" he had taken the paper with barely a glance at Dick.

"Robin."

That made him take a second look. Dick was currently dressed in practical black jeans, a red shirt for old times' sake under a leather jacket and a pair of large mirrored sunglasses. His normally black hair had been bleached into a dark blond at the tips. All in all he hadn't put much effort into the persona but he wouldn't be recognized by the average person on the street, which seemed to be of extra importance in the film capital of the world.

Matt opened his mouth, then closed it and considered. Smart man, for all he knew it was a completely different Robin.

Robin smiled. "It's been a while. How's your other half?" since Matt didn't have a wife or even a steady girlfriend there was only one thing Dick could be asking about.

Matt shook his head at the younger man. "Wow, yeah, it really has been a while. Come on, my car's over this way." Matt led Dick over to a silver mustang. Only when they were safely on the road did he continue. "Since I've only seen you once since we met I take it this isn't a social call."

"Nope, I'm actually looking for someone. Heard they were somewhere in LA and I figured I'd skip the detective work this time around."

"So this has nothing to do with what's been going on?"

"Don't know yet, I haven't found them."

Matt sighed, stretching his fingers against the steering wheel. Dick noted the definition in the joints diminish, not enough to be obvious but since he knew it was there, enough to give away a case of nerves.

"Well, I'll help if I can, but I can't say I know everyone in the greater LA area." his tone was light, the man really was a good actor. Dick made a mental note to ask Oracle what or who the man was hiding. He had to realize the former Robin wasn't a Lord agent; then again that's what everyone else seemed to think.

"I'm looking for the Golden Glider. She has a couple of aliases, Lisa Snart, Lisa Star, she's average height maybe around 5'5", long blond hair, fair skin, athletic build. As the Glider she's an ice skater." Matt gave him a look, and Dick just shrugged. "She'll have money. The type of person who likes to be seen without really giving any of themselves away."

"Well, you just described half the female population of the city, but..." he paused and his breath came out in a huff. "I think I know who you're talking about."

Dick nodded. They drove for a mile or so before Matt figured out how to continue.

"She goes by Lisa Dillon. She goes to a lot of parties, galas, all kinds of art shows and openings. Always manages to get in even if no one remembers inviting her. She's kind of a friend of a friend person but no one actually knows her, at least that's how it started. Strange thing is that she never does anything else. Never goes to anyone's home, never takes anyone up on a job offer or goes to get drinks with anyone. Most times she says her brother supports her when anyone asks but no one's ever met the brother. There's no ring and no boyfriend as far as anyone can tell but she turns down everyone who even comes close to asking, man or woman. That sound like your girl?"

"Yes, that's her."

Matt nodded, "Alright, then you're going to need a suit."

Matt had explained what he had in mind and that evening found the two men, famous actor and billionaire's son, in the lobby of the Franklin Memorial Gallery. Nightwing had timed things surprisingly well. The opening of an exclusive weeklong exhibit made up of undiscovered talents. The yearly show attracted hundreds of applicants for the 35 slots. The only rules were that each artist could only submit one piece and no one whose work had been showcased professionally could participate. The jury was known to be extremely harsh and every year those who managed to win a spot were heralded as the upcoming stars of the LA art world. It was exactly the type of thing that Lisa Dillon liked to be seen at.

The plan was to mingle until she showed, then quietly move in and Dick would do his thing. Matt didn't really need to be there but he claimed that he was too interested to just walk away now. Dick didn't fight him on it, having a shape-shifter to watch his back was actually pretty cool. How useful it would be remained to be seen.

Dick glanced over the various works, then ordered a drink and leaned against the wall. He was pretending to admire a surreal landscape, a wheat field under a storm filled sky with a small black haired boy looking away from the viewer, but in reality his eyes followed the people around him. They fell neatly into two categories.

The first category was the socialites; people who had come to see and be seen. A few of them would buy something. An even fewer might offer sponsorship if one of the young artist made a big enough mark. Most of them, though, just wanted to gossip about what so and so was wearing or how the standards of catering were slipping. This was an event. The reason for it didn't matter, only the reviews in tomorrow's paper and who left with whom made any impact on those people. Which sadly was why they were there.

The second category of people was the artists. Most of them were young, all of them were nervous and even though the event was billed as casual dress, all of them had done their best do put something presentable together. Some had come out better than others. A petite woman who stood in the center of the room in a white dress was telling a group around her that she had done the embroidery on the hem herself. She was an excellent example of the former. She was also managing to block his view of the fire exit. The later type was almost personified by a young man in a tux that was clearly rented. His black hair had been clumsily attacked by a comb and he had already managed to get some of his coke on the white sleeve of his dress shirt, though that may have been because of how his hands were shaking.

Dick's eyes kept wandering back to the young man. The reaction was almost involuntary. It was a reaction to how the man kept glancing at him. He was extraordinarily bad at hiding it. Dick hoped the guy wasn't going to hit on him, he wasn't bad looking once you got past the bad haircut but he was working and didn't have time to put the guy down gently.

Dick blinked and realized the guy had caught him looking, damn. With a breath the young man walked over, one hand stuffed into his pocket, the other occupied with his coke. It was probably better that way. If they didn't shake hands Dick wouldn't have to ignore how sweaty and shaky the other hand was.

The man licked his lips, definitely nerves, and spoke nodding to the painting. "What do you think?"

Dick glanced at the painting he had been pretending to study. Well there was no harm in answering. "I'm not sure the artist quite knows what to do with the surrealist bits. It's laid on pretty thick in the clouds and those trees in the distance. But the detail in the foreground is amazing. The boy's clothing for instance, you can almost see how the wind is tugging at it, and the layering on the wheat. It's well done.”

The young man let out a breath and offered a weak smile. "Thanks, the clothing was actually my favorite part. I normally do comics and stuff so that's what I'm good at."

Dick did a quick mental reshuffle. "You did this?" he glanced at the small card beneath the painting. "You're Kyle Reyner?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, oh should I have said? Sorry I'm really new to this whole gallery thing. I'm normally more of a working artist then a, well." he waved a hand at the gallery at large. "Whatever this is."

"And yet here you are."

"Yeah, it was kind of a dare, My girlfriend. I didn't think I'd actually get in."

"Well, I know next to nothing about art, and I'm definitely not a critic but I will say, your piece runs circles around Mr. Cubism over there."

They both glanced over at the offending white and orange square thing.

Kyle barked out a laugh. "Yeah, thank God for that at least."

Behind Kyle, Lisa Dillon entered the gallery. Heads turned, not all but some, and she stopped to pose in the momentary spotlight. She made a show of looking around and finding someone she knew, waved and called to them. It was like a scene out of some old twenties film. Then the attention of the room shifted and she calmly walked over to whomever had caught her eye.

Dick had been puzzling all night over how to get her alone so he could question her. The obvious ploy would be seduction but Matt had already made it clear that wouldn't work. From across the room Matt caught his eye and tilted his head, asking for the play. They could always cause a distraction and grab her in the confusion-- that was a reliable solid. It might be made more complicated given the fact that she was a super-villain and could therefore handle herself. If they got her to run they could find where she went to ground and corner her there. That would put the ball in her court but would also give them insight on what her goals were in the area. A person who was just doing a quick job wouldn't rent a $40,000 a month condo for instance. No one seemed to know where she was staying so it was a valuable piece of information. It might even lead them to others she was working with.

Plenty of things could go wrong with this plan but Dick couldn't really think of a better one. But how to do it? What would make her run? Something overt, or something a bit more subtle? Subtle, he decided. He wanted her looking over her shoulder not panicking blindly. Time to put the smell of a fox into the chicken house then, but first he needed to disengage.

"Kyle I think I'd like to buy this painting of yours." he got out his wallet and his face dropped. "Ah, forgot my checkbook. Well," he pulled out a business card instead. "Call me tomorrow if someone else doesn't grab it."

Kyle was nodding, speechless. He was too overwhelmed to even realize he had been abandoned. If the name on the card hadn't done it the price tag on the painting probably would have. It was likely three times as many zeroes as the kid saw on an average monthly check.

Dick slipped forward through the crowd until he stood at Matt's side. "I'm going to need your help. What do you know about Captain Cold?"

  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


Wally hadn't really seen Linda since he had asked her to a non-existent party. Well to be honest he had seen her, they were in the same class and living on the same campus, but he hadn't done more than smile at her across the room. At this point he wasn't sure he could talk to her.

He had two hours before he was supposed to meet up and he still hadn't managed to text her and ask where he should pick her up. Instead he was walking around the campus area and kept fiddling with his phone. He tried to stop, but every time he thought that a good 20 minutes had passed he checked his phone and found that it was only two minutes later. God he must look like a spaz. How many times had he circled this block? Five? Ok he should at least move to a different block.

Two hours, God how was he supposed to survive two hours? He had come out here after spending way too long in front of the mirror wondering if he should wear a red shirt yet again or try to wash one of his dirty ones. He had decided on going ahead with a red one. If she commented at least it could become a running joke.

He should get lunch. He hadn't eaten since, since, this morning? Did M&Ms count? But he was going to a barbeque, would eating beforehand be rude? Should he be doing something? He had said he would do something... crap. Ha had promised Iris to help set up.

He had the presence to look around and make sure no one was looking directly at him before he bent his knees... and froze.

Linda was coming out of a storefront across the street. No not just a storefront, a salon. She was running her fingers through her shimmering slightly curled black hair and smiling like the world was being remade in light and song. Or maybe that was just him.

Oh God should he be standing here staring? No, he should move, look away, something, but as soon as she had come into sight his nervous energy had settled. He was smiling. Not just the nervous little twitch but a soft natural smile. It felt good. Then her smile faded as she looked down the street and a shadow spread over the world.

Wally wilted slightly. He turned following in her gaze, and saw exactly why she was slowly backing away.

A storm had built over the river. Not an ordinary storm because he had just walked over the steel bridge and it had been clear as anything. This storm was swirling filling the sky like smoke, angry lightning-filled smoke that chased twisting winds down the avenue. The first wave found Wally and knocked him back tugging at his clothing and hair as he tried to brace himself against a force that was changing almost as fast as even he could react. Then the ice came; It made the river crack with a sound like a cannon as the temperature dropped by ten or twelve degrees. Lighting coiled like a snake then lashed out, back toward the bridge and the sky that had been filled with summer heat opened into a sudden downpour.

The lukewarm water couldn't have been more shocking if it had been arctic-level cold. Wally blinked away the water trying to convince himself that he wasn't seeing what he thought he was seeing. There couldn't be a man there in the heart of the storm. The long green coat flapped, snapping in the wind one moment before being pressed to the man's legs a moment later. His arms were up aiming the storm with the elegance of a conductor standing before a full orchestra. In one hand he even held a thin golden rod that managed to glow, catching the light that reflected off the sky and the newly frozen river. He was half turned as the wind changed again blowing open his coat to reveal bright yellow horizontal bands on the shirt beneath.

Wally tried to breath, but even as the world started to slow down he couldn't seem to unglue his feet from the pavement. That was the Whether Wizard. That was seriously him, Mark Mardon the Whether Wizard. Fuck.

Behind the Wizard lights came through the haze of rain and mist, flashing white and blue in a counterpoint to the harsh yellow lightning. The first cop car hit the bridge and started to swerve on the wet pavement. It caught it's self only to have the world torn apart around it.

As the bolt of energy struck, Wally's perceptions made another leap until he could see every detail of the scene in front of him. The police cars, three of them, had turned onto Burnside. The one in the lead swerved a bare second before the Weather Wizard sent the lightning. He wasn't aiming for the car. The center of the bridge was torn apart, already weakened by the sudden temperature change and the ice collecting on the rivets. The ragged hole cut through metal and pavement until the white ice of the river could be seen beneath.

The leading car wasn't lucky, still recovering it overcompensated and started hydroplaning over the fresh layer of water. The next second it hit the restraining wall broadside on and Wally thought he could see the airbags explode open. At the same time the other cars were being less lucky. Though the other two had been only moments behind the leading car it was far enough to put them behind the gaping maw that had been carved into the bridge. Momentum carried the first over the distance to slam the front into the opposite edge. The front half of the car was pushed back into the front seats and down it went out of site to crash somewhere below. The third and last jerked sideways caught in the maelstrom as the lightning tore open the space between its tires. A short sharp bang underlined the rear tires being blown out as the car was tipped up. Then the car was flipping over in a lopsided loop, bouncing once as the glass shattered and airbags inflated, twice to crunching metal and the end if the thunder crack, then finally settling as a lump of steel. 

At that last the Wizard brought up an arm to shield his eyes.

Fog rose up not called but simply as a reaction to the sudden changes forced on the area. Wally had already fixed his eyes on the Weather Wizard, and seen the destruction he had caused, but around him others on the street were just starting to gasp out questions. Through the fog everything was unclear; the sound of crunching metaloverlaid and obscured by thunder and cracking ice. Calls and curses were flung into the sudden silence.

The street had been fairly active, full of pedestrians rather than cars this close to the college but still busy enough to be called a crowd. Suddenly that crowd was laced with fear. It had been two years, no longer--nearly three years, since the Flash had died and the Rouges, his collection of villains had formed the uneasy status quo they had been living with for the past while. Things like this didn't happen anymore.

Everyone knew that if the Rogues had started blowing up the city and looting everything they could see the Lords would be on them, putting them down with so much force that the craters could be compared to nuclear strikes. The Rogues had become more subtle, pulling heists in the middle of the night and living as kings in the underside of the city. Other villains had tried to stake a claim, but the court of the Rogues had dealt with such outsiders before the police or the Lords ever had to intervene. It was one of the unspoken truths, Central and Keystone belonged to the Rogues'. The police still reacted to anything overt but when a crime scene was left covered in frost with the cameras flash-frozen and shattered, or when every reflective surface was polished to a shine and the door to the vault was simply gone, all the evidence was either inconclusive or misplaced.

The Rogues never acted as anything other than average citizens in any public venue, and as long as they weren't in costume the police pretended not to know who they were. Many of the Rogues even had public personas now; upstanding citizens who played at the high life before retreating back to hideouts filled with illegal gear. For the police to be actively chasing down the Wizard like that something must have been tipped on its ass.

The screaming came in a wave down the street like the wind before it. Those closest to the bridge turned and stumbled into a run, only to create more chaos as those farther back still looked around confused.

Back in the smoke the Weather Wizard turned and seemed to observe his surroundings for the first time, seeing the people and hip little street turn into a mob of terrified cattle. 

Wally saw realization building like a wave, crashing over people to drown them. From nearby came a cry of pain and he tracked it out of old practice, picking it out from the fear and confusion. Instead of finding the source his eyes found Linda.

She was pressed back against a shop window, her arms up defensively as she was jostled by others who were trying to flee. Her eyes looked out from behind the shield and they were wide and dark. A scrambling young man in a black t-shirt went past too close and in a brief moment her hair was caught and the shimmering black became a tangle inspiring a short cry. He wanted to be there, leaning over her to shield and protect her. He wanted this to stop; wanted to go back to worrying about the party and how he was going to make a fool of himself.

The emotions on the street were boiling even as it started emptying. Then the Weather Wizard stepped out of the fog and cut off rain with a wave. If things hadn't been ready to explode before that certainly triggered it.

Wally only managed not to get trampled by taking advantage of his speed.

The Weather Wizard stalked forward, raising a hand and shooting lightning down the street. The lightning spiked out in all directions, connecting with every target it could find.

Wally moved. He didn't think about it. The speed force was flowing through him -- the world already at a snail's pace compared to him. When he moved the world started singing. Light bled into ribbons as he raced the lightning. The condensation still in the air became a curtain and he remembered why he had always worn goggles.

The same goggles that he had stuffed into his bag months ago. Old habits die hard. His old Kid Flash goggles came out and the first thing he saw through them was the one person he was determined to protect.

At some point the window Linda had been pressed against had shattered, littering the sidewalk around her with glass. Shards had caught in her hair and jacket glittering in the light from the electricity arcing around her. She hadn't yet had the time to scream but in a relative minute she would and the Weather Wizard would notice. Chances were he wouldn't care, that he was more focused on leaving the area, but the lightning would fry her whether he cared or not.

Conscious thought was somewhere back by the wayside, ignored in favor of training that had been unused in years. He took in the area, the few scattered people remaining, the enemy approaching and the only other thing that seemed to be moving at that speed, the lightning. He traced the path of the energy and moved.

Linda was folded into his arms a moment later, his aura protecting them as he slowed down enough to do so without causing injury. He was back in the center of the street before the lightning stopped. He was vibrating, hovering on the edge, but he had to slow down enough to check on the woman in his arms.

Pressed to his chest, Linda found her vision filled with red, a gold symbol shimmering before her eyes. It was the lightning again but this time it meant something so different she could hardly comprehend the change. Her fingers tightened on the fabric, clutching at the arms around her. Her head was pressed into a man's shoulders and looking up she found the line of a jaw, features that wouldn't quite settle into place, goggles, and curls of red hair. She couldn't speak and she wasn't sure what she would have said even if she could. Then she heard it.

Around the hero and his passenger the remaining crowd was murmuring, calling out a name not heard for years.

"Flash!"

Wally was just about ready to panic. He wanted to scream, to deny it all, to tell them how wrong they were, but the Weather Wizard's voice was already joining the others. His voice though was tainted with rage and disbelief, scorning even the possibility. For some odd reason that was faintly comforting.

Wally didn't have a plan. He didn't even have a witty comeback. Every second he spent standing there on the street was a risk, not just because he wasn't really in costume or because he had to protect Linda, but because he wasn't Flash, wasn't even Kid Flash anymore and that made more of a difference than anyone who had never played the game would realize. He still had his powers but he had put away all the things that came with them. The instincts and the training wouldn't just come popping back. This was one case where it wasn't like riding a bike.

Linda made a sound and it came out in pieces due to the vibration. She wouldn't be able to stand it forever even with his aura shielding her. The strain would slowly build up until the vibrations started messing with the water in her body, the walls of her cells.

Wally had seen it once when one of his uncle's opponents had tried to steal his speed. It had worked to a point but by the time Barry had tricked the man into giving his powers back the would-be villain was so damaged that he had been on life support for months.

The Weather Wizard made a choice before Wally could decide what to do. He moved forward calling up a wind again, this one hot and dry. The water still on the road and dripping from the nearby roofs was caught up, adding a thousand needles to the grit in the air.

Wally turned into the wind, thankful for the goggles. Pressing Linda to his chest again, motioning for her to keep her face tucked into the crook of his neck, he called in his power.

The Weather Wizard was powerful but he was also possibly as out of practice as Wally was. While Wally may have been unprepared for a confrontation that didn't mean he had forgotten the facts he had learned during his childhood. Just like every hero had a weakness, every villain did as well. There was no ability that didn't have an Achilles heel. The Weather Wizard was powerful, but he needed his wand as a focusing tool or his powers would run wild.

It was his opening and Wally would only get one chance to make it work.

He ran at his opponent, bent over to shield himself and Linda from the ongoing attack. The wind burned but while it blanketed the battlefield it wasn't enough to stop him, and as he pulled down more and more of the barriers he had built up in two long years it became too little to even slow him down. He covered the sixty or seventy feet in less than a second, shifting Linda and reaching out for the wand with one hand before a reaction from the Wizard would have even been possible. Or at least that's what he was hoping.

The Wizard managed to tighten his grip as Wally's fingers closed. The cold metal linked them for a moment before Wally's momentum carried him past where his opponent stood. Caught between the two grips the Wand snapped; one half still held by the wizard while Wally's portion was sent flying out over the water and down.

Wally skidded into a curve scrambling for the control he had once been so proud of. Then the sky above the Weather Wizard exploded in a fulcrum of winds and lightning. Clouds formed and dissipated while ice and fog fought to obscure the air and behind the howl and crash of elements the scream of a man climbed through the octaves.

Wally forgot all about slowing down. His feet hit the pavement with a single-minded intensity that was born from desperation. Putting the nexus of chaos behind him, he got the hell out of dodge.

 


	12. Chapter 12

  
  
Batman returned to the watchtower two hours before it was fully back online. John had expected him to oversee the final processes. He did check on the progress of his programs, but when he had satisfied himself that things were progressing without incident he stalked off to the medical levels.  
John hadn't really slept in the days since Batman's first visit. He had managed catnaps here and there but nothing substantial. He kept saying that he needed to oversee the programs but on that front there was nothing to do except wait. He had ended up in the medical levels himself more often than not. John already knew all the news good and bad, but he followed the Bat up to medical anyway.  
Bad news first. Hawkgirl's vitals were falling. She had nearly gone under four times in those few days and each time it had taken longer to bring her back. Even worse, they had found the way to stop it and it was killing her. It was her wings. Before John had said they were poisoning her and it had turned out to be the truth. The doctors had done everything they could think of but nothing stopped it or even slowed it down. Finally they had recommended amputation. John had screamed at them, raged, forbidden it. She was Hawkgirl, cutting off her wings would kill her. Worse, it would kill her by inches. No matter how much he had raged there had been nothing else to do.  
They had operated only hours ago, amputating the poisoned and rotting limbs. She looked misshapen, laying on her stomach with bandages covering the protruding bone fragments. The skin that they could see was still riddled with dark veins giving her a the look of something that had been drowned. She was wracked with convulsions as her body tried to adapt and rejected its new reality. Her face was pale, and her features looked starved. Her normally brilliant red hair where it emerged from the mask had been tainted with strands of white. She hadn't been able to keep food down when they had briefly taken her off the drugs that made her sleep so all the nutrients she had received had come via a needle.  
It was hard to imagine her ever recovering. Normally he wouldn't even think such a thing but her bright spirit had been trapped in a failing body and there was nothing either of them could do at this point. She was broken and wouldn't even learn about it until the foolish doctors let her wake up. Worse she had taken a large chunk of him with her into that blackness. Oh he was doing well at ignoring it but when things settled down he would have to spend hours figuring things out and putting himself back together.  
She had seemed alright just after it had happened. The others had seemed disoriented. Diana had been lost in her own world and unresponsive, J'onn had been physically unresponsive, unconscious, or the martian equivalent. Superman had been the worst in some ways. Raging against an invisible foe one moment and then blind to everything around him the next. When he had recognized them he had muttered under his breath or just stared as if they were cardboard cutouts, or possibly members of the League trying to trick him again. Shiera was the only one who had been ready to fight beside him despite what the League had done. She had been strong and even back against the wall she had kept control of herself and the others. She was iron, and now somehow rust had crept in to corrupt that sturdiness.  
Compared to Hawkgirl, J'onn had recovered amazingly well. He had been completely unresponsive after they returned to their own world. He had remained unresponsive for days afterward. Every time the doctors did try something his body would change either making the treatment obsolete or in the wrong area. They kept him on life support but didn't know what else to do for the shapeshifter. Slowly, though, he had recovered on his own. Only a few hours after Batman had delivered the anti-virus and departed, he had regained consciousness. He had directed the doctors to give him peace and quiet and gone under again, but this time he hadn't needed the life support. He came back up every 12 hours or so, only briefly, but each time there was marked improvement in his voice and color.  
When Batman entered his room and stood over his bed J'onn stirred. He came to enough to look around and nod at the black clad man. Batman nodded back and said something John couldn't hear through the observation window. J'onn started to sit up but Batman raised a hand and said something else. J'onn replied then let himself sink back onto the bed. After that his sleep was as natural as John had ever seen it.  
Batman retreated to the conference room then and John found himself following.  
“Well.” John probably would have been able to come up will something better if he had a little more sleep.  
“J'onn will be able to resume active duty in another day or so.”  
John nodded and waited for the rest. There had to be more. There was always more.  
“Hawkgirl's condition is unfortunate, but can't be helped.”  
John made no comment at that. He was afraid that if he did say something it would end up being something he regretted.  
“That leaves only three active members that we are aware of.”  
“Diana?” John had to ask again though the shake of his head that Batman gave him was he had expected. “Kal?”  
“Superman is still an unknown.” Batman opened a channel on the conference table “How's it coming?”  
“We're close. Another five or ten minutes.” A technician answered from the other end of the line.  
“Inform me when it's finished.”  
So close, they were so close to having the watchtower back at full capacity. At that point John was almost expecting something to go wrong, because nothing could happen smoothly when it came to his life. They waited, John wasn't up to starting a conversation and Batman wasn't going to talk if he didn't have to, so it was in silence. When the call came that systems were back online, John would have sworn he heard cheers from out in the hall despite the soundproofing. Batman just thanked the man and opened a new channel, this time to the outside.  
To contact the Batcave you had to be attempting the call from an approved site and have the proper codes. Only a few people had those codes and they were always memorized, never written down. The security for the fortress of solitude was built along the same lines, if less strict in its enforcement. A moment later the icy walls of the fortress of solitude appeared on the screen, along with one of Superman's robot minions.  
“Greetings, who is calling and what is the purpose of your call?”  
“This is Lord Batman and Lord Green Lantern. We require a status report from Lord Superman.”  
The robot paused as if accessing it's programming for the proper response. John understood the idea behind the robots but personally he found them more than a little creepy.  
“Understood, Lord Superman is indisposed at the moment. Is there a message I can give him?”  
Batman frowned. “Is Superman injured?”  
Again the robot paused before speaking. “Lord Superman is uninjured.”  
“What is his status?”  
“You do not have the authority to access that information.”  
Batman stabbed at the keyboard for a short thirty seconds. The robot paused and John could almost hear the gears and circuits running through the different logic chains.  
“Lord Superman has requested not to be disturbed. Is there a message I can give him?”  
Batman snarled and attacked the keyboard again.  
“What is the combat status of Lord Superman?” John knew it wouldn't get all the details that Batman wanted but he figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.  
“Lord Superman's combat capabilities have been reduced to Kryptonian average.”  
Batman glanced up but kept typing. Kryptonian average sounded good, after all Superman's average could pretty much take out any threat, but john wasn't biting. This sounded like one of those times where something wasn't translating.  
“How does Kryptonian average compare to human average?”  
“Due to density in mass and other underlying factors, kryptonian average is approximately 2.7194 times human average in terms of strength, 1.8611 times human average in terms of speed, 4.7886 times human average in terms of endurance...”  
The robot probably would have gone on but John cut it off. “What is the status of Superman's Metahuman abilities?”  
That question made the robot go silent for almost a full twenty seconds.  
“Lord Superman has not shown any metahuman level abilities since his return.”  
Fuck. “Does kryptonian average include any abilities of superhuman level?” John's voice was tight though he managed to keep it level. On the table his hands had closed into fists. Before the robot could answer Batman grunted in satisfaction and the screen flickered, settling into a picture of Superman.  
Kal El was sitting in an old dark brown end chair, A red blanket spread over his lap. His dark hair was longer than it should have been and it hung in ragged strands that weren't quite tangles but were certainly on their way. There were shadows under his eyes and his cheeks were hollowed. His skin was tinged with a sickly yellow rather than his normal dark bronze. He was wearing an old and truly worn flannel button up shirt that didn't manage to hide his leaner frame. In his hands was a mug of something that steamed.  
He looked like he was recovering from some deadly illness. Worse there was something about the picture that looked wrong. It took John a minute to figure it out, the whole image was tinged in red. Kal looked up, seemed to see them and sighed. He looked away as if wishing he could just ignore them and make them go away.  
“Superman.”  
Kal winced at Batman's voice. “Don't. Just don't. Whatever it is you want I can't help, not anymore.”  
“Superman.”  
“Stop.” Kal's voice was hard and for a moment Lord Superman looked out at them, then it faded and he looked away again.  
“Then, explain.” Batman's voice hadn't changed tone the whole time.  
Superman wilted, curling into the chair and staring into his cup like he might find the answers at the bottom.  
“My powers are gone.”  
“Your robot informed us.”  
“They were driving me insane.”  
Batman seemed content to accept that but John wasn't. “You want to elaborate there? If you were feeling some pressure, we can approve a leave. Actually you're overdue. But it's kind of sounding like you're quitting outright.”  
Superman shook his head, and his hair flopped down over his eyes. “I can't.”  
“Can't what, man?”  
“I can't go back. I can't explain it. I just can't, Okay?” The shout had come out of the blue and it made John sit back in surprise.  
Batman as always seemed unfazed. “Talk to us Clark. We're trying to understand.”  
“Not Clark. Haven't been Clark for ages. God, no wonder Lois hate's me.” his voice was back to being quiet. It drifted as if he was talking to himself.  
Batman tried to bring him back. “Well, Superman seems to be out, so should I call you Kal then or is that out too?”  
“Kal... I suppose that's right. First and last. The only thing left. Should have just stuck with it from the beginning.”  
“Alright Kal, why don't you walk us through what you're thinking?”  
“I can't be Superman anymore. It was driving me crazy.”  
“So you've said.”  
“It was the sounds, mostly, maybe. All the sounds, all the screaming, all the hate and pain, and fear. So much, so loud. That's why I like space. I never told you did I? Why I wanted a base in space, a satellite. Couldn't just build a tower. No secret clubhouse, got to have a whole damn satellite. No sound in space, that's why. Except that didn't really help. It was still there, just couldn't hear it. I'd come back and there would be all these things that I didn't stop because I had plugged my ears with space. Like knowing your parents are fighting in the other room and putting a pillow over your head so you can't hear what they're saying. It doesn't matter. Done now. Couldn't do anything if I wanted to. Better this way.”  
“Alright, we understand.”  
Well John certainly didn't but if Batman said so he'd go along with it.  
“Do you?” Superman looked up and there was a clarity in his eyes. “No Bruce. You can't understand, not really.” He ran a hand over his face and pushed his hair back. It immediately fell back into his face. “It's the radiation. It's always the radiation. Yellow sunlight, red sunlight, Kryptonite, really it's amazing no one ever made the connection.”  
“The connection...” Batman prompted.  
“Yeah. My people, kryptonians, metabolize it. It's how we evolved. Food, water that's secondary. Or it was in the beginning, when we were young, before space, before the sky burned and the land boiled. It was all downhill from there. Millennia, with the clock slowly ticking down, slower and slower, but still coming. Boom, and I'm the only one left to figure it out.  
“Start at the beginning Kal.” Batman's voice is quiet as if he doesn't want to interrupt the ramblings that are starting up again. Instead he's encouraging them. John has no idea where any of it is going but the journey has him mesmerized.  
Superman goes on. He speaks as if remembering something from a long time ago, his voice carrying only slight inflections. Trivial matters, it's not as if he's revealing the history of a mighty race forever lost to time.  
“That is the beginning, radiation. No atmospheric shielding. It was the planetary norm. and the suns, we had two of them back then. That's what the archives say, not sure how they know. Two suns. Rao, and his favored daughter. The king of the heavens and the firebird. Creator and destroyer, forever dancing. So much radiation. The scale of it, you can't comprehend, but that's how they lived, drinking it in.  
“They could use it, metabolize it. It made them strong, while they lived. Must have been like the old west or back with kings and castles. Everyone fighting, everyone dieing, everyone living. So much history, so many lives and discoveries, so much lost.  
“Rao killed his daughter. One sun slowly devouring another, can you imagine? Must have been terrifying. Everything changed, everything. There's a lot of math involved, orbital shifts, and solar mass and goodbye Argo, hope you survive. Of course no one was doing much recording at the time. They were too busy dieing. The radiation had changed. Meat and drink for a whole race, and suddenly it was poisoning them. The whole race should have died then. Except it didn't. You know how it goes, life fights to survive, and out of all the little unnoticed variations, one of them, for no reason at all, works. The main theory is that kryptonians prior to the event had the ability to close off their cells, stop absorbing the radiation if it became harmful, like a shield, or like throwing up when you've eaten something bad. Only now everything was bad, so they shut down completely. Lived off other things.  
“The ability is still there though, in our cells, just turned off. For generations, probably should have stayed that way, but you know the planet tried to explode, can't have that. Then of course the data from before is scattered so dear old dad goes with the closest match he can find which turns out to be not quite as close as he thinks.  
“Everyone always wonders about the kryptonine, well that's why. The planet absorbed the radiation too. That doesn't just go away when the thing explodes, probably just makes it worse. Probably, possibly, probably. You know kryptonite can't hurt me under a red sun? Should have tried it ages ago.  
“It's all done now though. My cells have been whipped clean and left empty. A lifetime's worth of battery power, poof. Better this way, no more poison, no more sounds, just red like the robots say.”  
During the story John slowly pushed himself away from the screen. By the time Superman wound down to a halt his chair was arms length from the table. It was quite possibly the most disturbing thing he had ever seen and that was saying something considering some of the planets he had visited. It wasn’t anything major, but the little twitches, the random pauses in the middle of sentences, the random switches between theological and scientific. It was even worse when he considered who the man was. Considering his mental state it was probably a good thing Superman’s powers seemed to be gone. Or was his mental degradation due to the lack of his abilities. It was certainly something to consider. Only, if he was wrong they would have a crazy fully powered superman on their hands not just the depowered version.  
“Alright Kal, we understand. Thank you for telling us. We have to take care of some things now but we’ll call again later, alright? You just rest, you’ve earned it.” Batman’s voice was low and smooth like he was talking to a wild animal.  
Glad to know John wasn’t the only one who thought the man had gone off the deep end.  
Batman cut the connection and John took the opportunity to take a long breath. “This is bad isn’t it?”  
Batman looked up from where his hands rested on the keys. “Given the state of the others I had estimated that he would need time to recover. Possibly even need to recharge for a time. We’ll have to see if he levels out. In the meantime I can go over the Fortress files and see how much of his story is accurate. He may just need time.”  
John looked at Batman and had to wonder if the man realized how much hope and desperation was in his voice. Batman and Superman had been the first. They had worked together several times before the league had been formed. The two of them were so different and yet worked so well together, each covering the other, filling out weaknesses and strengthening the whole.  
God, getting out of this one would not be easy.  
John needed sleep, but there was too much to do and it would only get worse.  
The comms beeped and a technician spoke into the silence. “Lord Batman, you requested to be informed when the repair programs had completed. The watchtower is now at %100.”  
Batman pressed the reply button. “Thank you. Prepare a teleport for Green Lantern, I’ll be on the bridge in a moment.” Batman turned off the reply and turned to John. “Go home. Recharge your ring. Get some sleep.”  
So it was that obvious. John nodded and with an end goal in mind was able to push himself to his feet. He could afford twelve hours, and if he couldn’t, well, he couldn’t afford not to.  
Batman watched Green Lantern leave. The man was holding up well given the circumstances. They would need that.  
Batman went to the bridge. It took the next four hours to organize the different crews, get replacements coming in and start catching up on all the data since the Lords had made their ill-advised trip to an alternate universe. Another two hours had him going over everything that had happened on the watchtower while it was offline. He wasn't about to let a potential spy get his fingers in the system just because it had been down. Then he caught a quick catnap in his room before J'onn woke and he was summoned.  
J'onn was looking better. He was still more grey than green and when he shifted it took longer than it should have, but his voice was strong.  
“I must return to the planet.”  
Batman nodded. “Your projects?”  
“Yes.”  
“Will you need an alibi for the lost time?”  
J'onn considered then shook his head. “The group is ecliptic. I do not believe anyone will be too concerned. Better to keep things simple.”  
Batman nodded again. “You'll get in contact if you need anything?”  
“Always.” J'onn waited long enough to see that Batman had no other concerns. “I'll be going then.” He took a step back and phased down through the floor.  
Batman watched the spot he had vanished for a minute, then turned, shutting off the lights as he returned to projects of his own.


	13. Chapter 13

They worked out the details in the empty managers office and fifteen minutes later had the everything settled. Dick reentered the party leaving Matt to circle around for his big entrance. Slipping in to join Lisa's group of fans wasn't difficult. He just lingered nearby until someone made a joke then laughed with them and made a comment of his own. Soon Dick was shaking hands and being introduced. Not everyone in the group recognized his name or face but enough did that all the single women were suddenly fluttering their eyelashes and standing a little too close. It would have been a lie to say he didn't enjoy it just a little. He was a healthy male and they were all gorgeous, and it made it easier to slip the tracker onto his target.

Then they started hearing noise up the block and Dick turned in that direction, drawing it to the attention of the rest of the group. The wailing of sirens picked up and screeching tires were heard just outside. Someone screamed and one of the front windows shattered. Then there was a lot more screaming and a panic fanned out from the man standing in the doorway.

Captain Cold re Clayface stood there in full costume. The dark blue parka was accented with white straps and torn white trim. His combat boots were pure white from the soles to the laces and his gloves were tight white leather until they broke into a large tattered fir cuff half way to his elbow. Beneath the white hood he wore a pair of square arctic goggles on his blocky features. The one piece of his uniform that wasn't the colors of ice and snow was his belt; it was a dirty unpolished gold covered in kicks and scratches from long hard use. The holster mounted on it matched the belt, as did the gun Captain Cold was waving at the crowd. Behind Cold out on the sidewalk traffic had been turned to chaos. People were running, screaming, in all directions, as car horns blared. The road had been blocked by a tangle of cars that had been lightly frosted over.

Even knowing what was coming it was an impressive display. Dick had to wonder where Matt had found the blue Cadillac that he had crashed into the telephone pole. The frost was a nice touch as well, but he had to wonder if wasting the cold pellets Dick had given him on the cars was the best option.

The sirens outside picked up in volume and Cold glanced out over his shoulder before letting out a curse in a guttural voice. “Out of my way.” he was rushed, looking for an exit presumably, or at least that was what the crowd would think.

Dick had gone rigid when Captain Cold had come in. he had been expecting it, but he hadn't actually seen Matt's impression of Cold. The costume was one thing, but imitating Cold right down to the details on the gun and the ragged state of the costume was amazing. The amount of detail he put into it, the way steam seemed to gather around his feet and the way his voice had turned into that low growl. Matt really was an excellent actor, but then again, Dick had only met Cold once, and picking up details hadn't exactly been a priority. Convincing him and convincing Lisa were two different games. For all they knew Cold might have made some change to the costume that would give them away straight out. Even if that wasn't the case Matt could say something wrong or freeze someone or not freeze someone or run out of pellets and suddenly Lisa would realize something was wrong. Hopefully Matt would keep this brief and things would be too hectic for her to notice any flaws in the act.

Cold looked around, searching the crowd. When his eyes found Lisa he went rigid. “run, Run!” at the same time the sirens behind him reached a peek. Cold spun to the door,pointed his Cold gun at the entrance and filled it with ice.

Lisa moved, spinning around and running for the fire exit with purpose. The crowd was generally fleeing in that direction so it was easy for Dick to follow without notice.

Dick had been in more hysterical crowds then the average person. They were useful in their way, good for distractions and hasty exits. In the middle of the crowd the average person would have had a hard time following Lisa. She knew how to move well, dodging between people and into gaps that disappeared a moment later. Dick had to use all his reach and experience to keep up with her.

Then they were through the doors and into a back alley where the crowd stalled, forced to keep going by the people behind but suddenly disoriented by the change from soft lights to cold concrete. Lisa was still going moving forward, away from the milling crowd. Dick followed her around a corner, then went into hero mode; slipping into the shadows.

The Glider knew what she was doing. She cut through four blocks, taking turns at random before finally catching a cab. For this kind of work Nightwing would have liked his motorcycle but since that wasn't available he zip-lined to the nearest rooftop and silently thanked LA traffic for being so terrible.

Following someone through a city depended on a lot of factors. Given enough people and equipment it was almost impossible to shake a tail. When it was one on one it was a lot harder, and when the tail didn't want to be noticed the difficulty was increased again. The one good thing about hiding was that whoever was being followed wouldn't try to escape. Except Nightwing had thrown that out the window when he had had Matt impersonate Cold. Nightwing had handicapped himself.

That being said, it would take a hell of a large handicap to effect someone trained by Batman.

Lisa ditched the cab four blocks later outside the sciences museum. Nightwing was about to cross the gap to the building's expansive roof, but his prey turned down the street instead. Nightwing crept to the edge of his roof then shimmied down the side of the building as she joined the crosswalk to his side of the street. He watched just long enough to see which way she was going, then stepped into the street ahead of her.

He kept his pace steady loose glancing sideways every step or so to catch Lisa's reflection in shop windows and the windscreens of cars. She was coming up behind him fast her steps long and purposeful. At the next corner he turned and let her slip past him. If she glanced in his direction he didn't see it.

Nightwing watched his target stop at a light and settled into the familiar pattern. Most chases weren't like the movies, not the long ones anyways. It was a game of cat and mouse. If the mouse didn't lose the cat in the first five minutes or so there was a good chance the cat would win. Most times there weren't long drawn out sequences where the mouse ran down allies knocked over garbage cans and jumped in front of cars to get away. Those kind of things tended to draw attention and made it easier to judge where the mouse was going.

If the mouse got in a car then they had to obey traffic laws. Even professional drivers couldn't pull off bond film stunts more then half the time, and definitely not for any stretch. Plus that was when whoever was driving was clued in to the chase. No such luck with a taxi. Provided they didn't move towards one of the highways Nightwing was sure he would be able to keep up.

As he ran Nightwing shed the expensive dress coat, reversing it so a worn but serviceable brown was the new exterior. His silk tie was abandoned in someone's rooftop garden. The pants and shoes couldn't really be helped but after scrambling down fire escapes and climbing drainpipes, they probably wouldn't look like part of a suit in any case. He pulled out his belt and wrapped it around him over his shirt but under the jacket. If Lisa did catch him following, he didn't want her to connect it to the party if possible.

Lisa's cab wound through downtown and headed northwest. Nightwing was just running out of serviceable rooftops at the edge of Beverly Hills when the cab pulled up to the sidewalk outside the LA county Museum of Art.

Nightwing hadn't expected that. He slipped down to street level and made for the crosswalk as Lisa paid her driver. She was glancing around, noting the people on the street. Her eyes slid over him. Nightwing didn't pause, didn't glance at her, moving with his shoulders hunched and his cord roughened hands stuffed deep into his pockets. The streets weren't crowded but there were a couple dozen people scattered around the various buildings and the park next to them. He didn't stand out.

Lisa turned toward the buildings, but waited on the stairs until the taxi had pulled away before heading into the westernmost building. Nightwing picked up his pace to follow her.

Nightwing hadn't thought she would head for a public place, and moreover why another art gallery? Was there another event he wasn't aware of? Moreover it would be a lot harder to keep track of her in the enclosed twisting passages without her noticing. He could only switch his jacket around so many times. When putting things together for the evening he hadn't exactly had a chase in mind. He had planted the tracker in her bag, so he could drop back if it came to it, but Lisa wasn't just some airhead showgirl. There was a good chance she would notice the tracker or just ditch the bag at some point and he'd be out of luck.

She elbowed the door open and Nightwing caught it as it closed. There didn't appear to be any events going on; there were hardly any people at all. Why did things have to go south now? Lisa was glancing around again, not so much looking for people as taking in the space around her. Nightwing slid through the door and turned towards a table covered in pamphlets. He glanced over them, then turned, leaning against the wall and pulling out his phone, pretending to text.

Again Lisa's eyes moved over him. This time they lingered longer. Her posture shifted slightly. Nightwing couldn't tell if he'd been made. He kept himself relaxed and a moment later she turned away sharply, biting at her bottom lip. Apparently not yet, but she was watching. If she spotted him again he was probably done.

Lisa headed for the other end of the lobby where the coat room and ticket counter waited. Nightwing muttered a half curse under his breath. He had to follow her in or she could slip out some back way, but buying a ticket directly behind her would push it too far. Then Lisa turned and instead of heading for the ticket counter she walked up to the coat room attendant. Nightwing shifted so he could read her lips and watch the attendant's face at the same time.

 _Excuse me, I was in here the other day and I think I forgot to pick up my bag._ Lisa was leaning forward slightly, one hand fiddling with a strand of her hair. For the moment she was totally focused on the girl behind the counter.

_Of course, it happens. Do you have your tag?_

_I don't. I remember the number though, it was 71. It's a brown shoulder bag with a pink and green flower on the flap._

_I'll check for it, and I'll need some ID since you don't have the tag._

_Yes, of corse._

Lisa pulled something from her bag and showed it to the clerk, who nodded and retreated further behind the counter.

Somehow Nightwing doubted that this was just about a bag. He sent a quick text to Oracle asking her to get him a copy of the security tapes for the last few days. If this was where she had come first then he wanted to know what was in that bag.

After a minute the attendant came back with a brown shoulder bag. She passed it over and the two women smiled at each other. When Lisa turned back toward the entrance rather then heading into the building Nightwing pushed off the wall and headed for the door as well. He pushed his way through then held the door open behind him. Lisa took the bait as common curtsey and nodded to him as she passed. She was careful, and still aware. She avoided his attempt to brush against her, and avoided a second tracer in the process. Professionals could be so annoyingly competent.

She headed back to the curb and since he was already right there, he walked beside her, far enough back that she wouldn't see his face unless she turned but far enough forward that she could still see him out of the corner of her eye. Better not to panic her by standing where she couldn't see. It wouldn't seen strange if he didn't stay for long. Besides they were headed for the group of Taxis lined up by the corner. Nothing more innocent then trying to catch a taxi, right?

A family was already loading into the lead taxi so Lisa too the second. Nightwing headed for the third. He considered telling the man to follow that cab, but it just seemed too cliché. After as many years heroing as he had, he had learned that cliché more often lead to bullets then to dramatic irony. Except when it lead to both.

He opened the back door of his cab, and turned toward Lisa. He was at a bad angle for lip reading but he was close enough to hear half of what she said. Put the two together and her destination was the Swanson Yacht Club off the Marina Del Rey. He gave his own driver the address and followed Lisa's tracker with his phone.

The two cabs took different routs. When Nightwing arrived Lisa was already down at the docks. Probably better that way, he could watch her without getting to close again. With a pair of binoculars from his belt he watched her clim aboard a mid-sized pleasure boat. It was white with a light green trim on the edges and from a distance looked like there might be a small cabin below decks. The name on the stern read _eclipse_.

Lisa untied the craft and soon it slipped away from the dock and quietly navigated out of the harbor. Nightwing let it go. Even if he could find a place to rent a boat this late in the evening, he wouldn't catch her. It would be obvious she was being followed out on open water for one. Instead he went back to his phone and made another request of Oracle, this time information on the boat. Then he texted Matt a thank you and a message that he had been successful and would call if he needed more help.

It may not have seemed like it from the outside but the evening had been more productive then he had expected. Time to do what he was good at and follow the trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wally ran to the one place he knew would be absolutely safe. His aunt Iris's house. Ok so maybe it didn't have armored reinforced doors or a security system that would outsmart anything, but he had been running there since long before he got his powers and it hadn't really failed yet. His speed lessened only when he was in the neighborhood and when he let himself fall back to normal speed he was in her living room.

His hold on Linda sagged and she lessened her death grip in response. Her face came up away from where it was tucked into his shoulder and suddenly she was looking at him. Yesterday, even an hour ago he would have given anything for her to look at him with that intensity. Her eyes were a mixture of awe and hope. He set he back on her feet. He wasn't feeling anything.

Everything he had slowly built up over two years was now in ruins. In hours the whole city would know some version of what had happened and they would all have one fact terribly wrong. The Flash had not returned. Not that that would matter to the people, or the rogues, or Batman.

He was dead. Batman would find him and if he didn't someone else would. He would have to run. He had to get away, had to run, and find somewhere that no one could find him. Run fast enough that he broke through time and space to the places where no one could catch him.

“Easy, easy there kid. You're ok. Just cool down and think for a minute, you're ok.” the voice pulling him back towards the living room, and he realized he was vibrating a dent into the hardwood floor. Darn, Iris would kill him. He tried to pull back the energy and found himself looking up into Jay's winter blue eyes.

“That's it. Come on back kid. You know if I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to spill your secret just to impress a pretty girl.” Jay leaned in conspiratorially. “Not that I would blame you.” From behind Jay an elderly woman thwaped him lightly over the head.

“Behave.” she told her husband in a tone that said she had seen everything the world had to offer and was not impressed by his cheap attempt at humor. The tone was made a lie by the smile tugging at her features.

Wally managed a weak laugh and the tension drained out of him a bit. It had been an age since he had seen Jay and Joan Garric despite the fact that they were like grandparents to him. In some ways the Garric's were the perfect picture of an older couple. Both of them were silver haired with laugh lines around their eyes, and they had been married long enough to know what the other was thinking most of the time. Joan made the best apple pie he had ever had and Jay had been the one to teach him baseball between saving the world missions. As the first Flash even Barry had gone to Jay for help more then once and even though he had been retired for ages, to Wally, that was always who the man would be. Jay had created the legacy that he was just following blindly.

“So, are you going to tell me what made you rush in here like that after all this time?”

Jay knew. Knew he still had his powers, knew he was trying to cut himself off from them, knew everything. He was the one person Wally had never expected to fool. Jay was also connected to the speed force and could feel everything Wally did, if he cared to pay attention.

“I don't know.” Wally said. “It was Weather Wizard and, I don't know, I just, reacted. He looked over at Linda who had been guided into a chair by Joan. His eyes were wide, his expression locked into something between shock and helpless fear. “I wasn't thinking, and now.” he turned to look back at Jay. “I don't know what to do.” his words had managed to stay at a steady pace throughout, but as if to counter it his hands never stopped moving.

“It's okay kid. We'll figure this out. Why don't you walk me through it. One step at a time.”

Wally nodded. He started talking, then started pacing. The words weren't coherent to his own ears as if he forgot everything he said as soon as it passed his lips. He couldn't look around, just kept his eyes on the floor, afraid that if he did look up he would be alone. Jay stayed with him, not pacing but always standing. Laying a hand on his shoulder when Wally would pass him, being there. Joan had managed to materialize a pot of tea and sat on the couch next to Linda. For her part Linda seemed to be coping fairly well. While Wally recounted the afternoon's events to Jay she quietly asked Joan questions.

“Wally is the Flash?”

“Was dear and no not quite. He was Kid Flash, but he gave all that up when The Flash died two years ago. He was only fifteen then, and the man was like a father to him.My Jay tried to pull him out of it but, Well, you remember how it was back then.” Joan kept her tone soft. Laying everything out as simply as she could. “And when it comes down to it everyone handles things at their own pace. Trust me, if you meet enough speedsters you learn that lesson plenty well.”

“Speedsters? There are more of them, you?”

“Yes there are a few others, though Flash was always the fastest. My Jay there is retired now but he was a hero once. There's Jessy Quick who inherited her father's powers and Max Mercury, though I haven't seen him in a dog's age. He might be gone now. The price for his powers was being pulled through time you see.” Linda just nodded silently. “Barry and Iris had a pair of children who decided to live in the 32nd century, and then there's Wally.”

Linda drank her tea then looked at it and put it down as if they were all just sitting there talking. “No, this can't be it. We were just attacked by the Weather Wizard. I was saved by a guy who I might kind of like, who just happens to be there and all of a sudden we're gone, and having tea. I don't even know where I am.”

“14 Linnwood Drive since we appear to be telling secrets.” another woman had entered from a door that Linda thought led to the kitchen. She was tallish with a lean build, auburn hair that was beginning to show strands of grey and hazel eyes. “Joan already got you tea? Good. I'm Iris, Wally's aunt. This is my house. I'm sorry we had to meet like this rather then more pleasant circumstances, but my nephew always has managed to get himself into trouble.” The new woman came forward to sit lightly on the arm of the loveseat. She was facing the group, with most of her attention on Wally.

Wally stopped pacing long enough to turn in her direction and let his arms come out in a helpless gesture. “Iris.”

“It's true.” Iris had that spark in her eyes. It was the same spark as when she was turning a mark to give her just the right quote. “Ever since he was little. He used to spend summers here and he would drive me insane, always running off. Took me a month to figure out where he kept going off to.” Iris turned to Linda and continued conspiratorially. “I really should have guessed, it was fairly obvious in hindsight, but it was across the city. I still don't know where he got the bus fare. Anyway he was going to the Flash museum. Back then he didn't know who Barry really was. We were still dating you see, and Wally thought he was boring, but the Flash. He adored the Flash. Drank it in like a sponge, his room covered in posters. It was adorable.”

“Aunt Iris.” Wally was clearly being embarrassed worse then if she had pulled out baby photos.

Worse Linda was grinning and it wasn't a good grin. “Well I did kind of suspect he was fanboy at heart. I mean I don't think I've ever seen him wearing anything other then a red shirt.”

Iris was chuckling. “So you picked up on that? You know once he became Kid Flash I could always tell when he was trying to do something sneaky because that was the only time he wouldn't be sporting the Flash logo.” Iris moved from the arm of the loveseat to sit next to Joan so she was across from Linda. She leaned forward as she finished as if imparting a secret.

Linda's eyebrows went up and she let out a laugh.

“Linda. Iris.” Wally pleaded managing to make the names understandable before his voice degraded into a moan. His shoulders had slumped forward, and it looked like he couldn't decide whether he should throw up his hands in defeat, or move forward to force Iris back into the kitchen where she couldn't make this any worse. His former panicked energy had almost completely disapated.

Linda was tempted to make a comment about his face now matching his shirt but that would have been going too far. She did owe him for saving her life after all.

Jay put a hand on Wally's shoulder. “Face it kid, you've lost. Best to accept it with dignity and make a dignified retreat. You can help me with the beer.” He guided Wally out of the room at a normal speed.

Linda let out a tense breath and looked at the other two women. “So, do you want to explain what we were doing there?” Her voice had lost it's amusement, it wasn't hard yet but it was clear she wanted an answer or it might get hard.

Iris leaned back and looked at her with growing respect. “Well, as I said: my nephew, Wally, was Kid Flash until two years ago. When the Flash was killed Wally didn't react well. Jay says it was partially physical. They can all feel each other through the speed force, and before you ask I can't really explain what that is beyond the source of their power. So when Flash died, Wally could feel it. He withdrew into himself. He spent days just sitting at the kitchen table. He refused to use his speed. I think, well we all think, that he was trying to break his connection to the speed force. It didn't work, and eventually I got him to start living again, or at least pretend like it.

“Then one day he used his speed. It was something normal. I think I asked him to go out and get me some milk, and he did it. He used his speed and he fell apart. I eventually got him to come out of it but it took a while. That wasn't the only time it happened. It's survivors guilt. He's getting better overall. He can use his speed now without breaking down if he actually thinks about it, but if he's surprised he'll still react and then when it's over he'll fall to pieces.

“So we distract him. Let him bleed out the energy through embarrassment and mindless tasks that he can't feel guilty about. It'll only work for so long but it's the only thing I can do.”

Iris looked wistfully at the door that Wally had left through. Her voice had caught when mentioning the Flash but she had taken a breath and moved on, talking about Wally with dozens of layers of emotions behind each word. In this matter she wore her heart on her sleeve. Even a stranger could tell how much she loved him, and how much she was hurting to see him like that. Linda processed that information for a few minutes before asking the one question that seemed most pertinent to her situation.

“Why are you telling me?” the two women looked up at her and at first they didn't seem to understand. She went on. “You shouldn't be telling me this. It's a secret, his secret, and yours. I'm just a stranger and I'm not going to tell anyone but you don't know that. For all you know I could be planning to sell you to the Rogues the first chance I get. Even though that's not the case it's still a danger. Someone could put the pieces together and track you all down using what I know. You told me your address for heavens sake. I mean, I played along because Wally seemed, well, he seemed about to freak out and that would have been more then a little terrifying. With Weather Wizard, I don't even know what happened, it was all so fast. You could have shoved me out your door and I would have had no clue who any of you were. Even Wally would have been just a blur, and he was carrying me in his arms. It's not that I'm not grateful for the explanation or whatever this is but, why?” at some point while she was talking Linda had picked up her cup and now she held it in a death grip.

“You know,” Joan said taking a drink of her tea. “I think I like her.”

“Mmmm Yes. I can certainly see why Wally is so smitten.”

Linda's face took on a slightly pink hue. “Are you going to answer my question or not?”

This time it was Joan's turn to talk. “Oh I wouldn't worry about it dear. The danger would have been there in any case so we might as well have told you.”

“I don't understand.”

“Well, from Wally's account, he saved you right?” Iris waited for her nod. “And there were people around to see it?” Again she waited for confirmation. “Then trust me, by the end of the day people will not only be saying that the Flash has returned but you're his girlfriend. Someone in that mess will have gotten a picture or a cell phone video and then someone will recognize you and they wont think anything of it but the news will spread. Trust me on this one. I was in that exact same position. Only I was trying to get a story at the time, you don't even have an excuse.”

“To be fair you falling into him like that was fairly suggestive.” Joan was looking sideways at Iris and this time it was her turn to blush.

“Joan, I tripped. There was an explosion.” Iris sounded a lot like Wally in that moment.

There was clearly a story there, and once she wasn't the one getting teased she started to feel a lot more at ease.

“Besides.” Joan went on. “The Flashes were never all that worried about secret identities. My Jay never even wore a mask, just that old silver hat of his.”

Iris was nodding. “Barry once told me he put together his suit because there was less wind resistance at low speeds, and the bugs of corse.” Iris settled into her chair. “Secret identities is one of the lines no one crosses. Mirror master could have found out who the Flash was any day of the week. The Pied Piper had plenty of opportunities before he reformed. It wouldn't be hard for any of the other Rogues either, even a regular citizen. But if one of the Rogues started using his identity against him Flash would do the same. Before he died, Flash had the Lords behind him, and even if he didn't, with his speed it wouldn't be hard to search through a city. Half of the Rogues identities are known in any case. They may not be public knowledge but they are public secrets. Out of costume there's a kind of truce. The Rogues don't attack families, and Flash doesn't go after them if he see's them on the street, even if he knows they robed a bank just yesterday.”

Linda didn't seem convinced. Iris pursed her lips and turned to Joan. “Maybe you can explain it better.”

Joan finished her tea and nodded. “Let me see. Well, you know that every city has it's group. Metropolis has, or had, Intergang. Gotham has both Two face and Penguin trying to be top dog. Again this is more how things were then the last few years but you get the picture. In Central and Keystone we have the Rogues. But unlike other groups the Rogues have a code. Well there are exceptions, never trust Zoom. The reverse Flash is bad news.”

“Abracadabra too, best to stay away from him.” Iris put in her two cents.

Joan was nodding sagely. “They're both from possible futures though. Most of the Rogues from this time period are reasonable. They don't hurt children. They don't have anything to do with drugs. They don't just mindlessly kill civilians. It's the reason the other heroes and villains from out of town never took them seriously.”

Iris crossed her arms and pressed her lips together. “Shows what they know, given that the Rogues are running this city now.

Joan laid a calming hand on her arm, but was looking at Linda. “Does that answer your question Linda? It is Linda isn't it? The introductions got a little lost.”

Linda Nodded and drank her tea as she processed the information. It was a lot to take in, and while Linda was normally quick on the uptake, these people were something else altogether. Suddenly she had been dropped into the middle of another world and she and no idea where to take it.

 

They worked out the details in the empty managers office and fifteen minutes later had the everything settled. Dick reentered the party leaving Matt to circle around for his big entrance. Slipping in to join Lisa's group of fans wasn't difficult. He just lingered nearby until someone made a joke then laughed with them and made a comment of his own. Soon Dick was shaking hands and being introduced. Not everyone in the group recognized his name or face but enough did that all the single women were suddenly fluttering their eyelashes and standing a little too close. It would have been a lie to say he didn't enjoy it just a little. He was a healthy male and they were all gorgeous, and it made it easier to slip the tracker onto his target.

Then they started hearing noise up the block and Dick turned in that direction, drawing it to the attention of the rest of the group. The wailing of sirens picked up and screeching tires were heard just outside. Someone screamed and one of the front windows shattered. Then there was a lot more screaming and a panic fanned out from the man standing in the doorway.

Captain Cold re Clayface stood there in full costume. The dark blue parka was accented with white straps and torn white trim. His combat boots were pure white from the soles to the laces and his gloves were tight white leather until they broke into a large tattered fir cuff half way to his elbow. Beneath the white hood he wore a pair of square arctic goggles on his blocky features. The one piece of his uniform that wasn't the colors of ice and snow was his belt; it was a dirty unpolished gold covered in kicks and scratches from long hard use. The holster mounted on it matched the belt, as did the gun Captain Cold was waving at the crowd. Behind Cold out on the sidewalk traffic had been turned to chaos. People were running, screaming, in all directions, as car horns blared. The road had been blocked by a tangle of cars that had been lightly frosted over.

Even knowing what was coming it was an impressive display. Dick had to wonder where Matt had found the blue Cadillac that he had crashed into the telephone pole. The frost was a nice touch as well, but he had to wonder if wasting the cold pellets Dick had given him on the cars was the best option.

The sirens outside picked up in volume and Cold glanced out over his shoulder before letting out a curse in a guttural voice. “Out of my way.” he was rushed, looking for an exit presumably, or at least that was what the crowd would think.

Dick had gone rigid when Captain Cold had come in. he had been expecting it, but he hadn't actually seen Matt's impression of Cold. The costume was one thing, but imitating Cold right down to the details on the gun and the ragged state of the costume was amazing. The amount of detail he put into it, the way steam seemed to gather around his feet and the way his voice had turned into that low growl. Matt really was an excellent actor, but then again, Dick had only met Cold once, and picking up details hadn't exactly been a priority. Convincing him and convincing Lisa were two different games. For all they knew Cold might have made some change to the costume that would give them away straight out. Even if that wasn't the case Matt could say something wrong or freeze someone or not freeze someone or run out of pellets and suddenly Lisa would realize something was wrong. Hopefully Matt would keep this brief and things would be too hectic for her to notice any flaws in the act.

Cold looked around, searching the crowd. When his eyes found Lisa he went rigid. “run, Run!” at the same time the sirens behind him reached a peek. Cold spun to the door,pointed his Cold gun at the entrance and filled it with ice.

Lisa moved, spinning around and running for the fire exit with purpose. The crowd was generally fleeing in that direction so it was easy for Dick to follow without notice.

Dick had been in more hysterical crowds then the average person. They were useful in their way, good for distractions and hasty exits. In the middle of the crowd the average person would have had a hard time following Lisa. She knew how to move well, dodging between people and into gaps that disappeared a moment later. Dick had to use all his reach and experience to keep up with her.

Then they were through the doors and into a back alley where the crowd stalled, forced to keep going by the people behind but suddenly disoriented by the change from soft lights to cold concrete. Lisa was still going moving forward, away from the milling crowd. Dick followed her around a corner, then went into hero mode; slipping into the shadows.

The Glider knew what she was doing. She cut through four blocks, taking turns at random before finally catching a cab. For this kind of work Nightwing would have liked his motorcycle but since that wasn't available he zip-lined to the nearest rooftop and silently thanked LA traffic for being so terrible.

Following someone through a city depended on a lot of factors. Given enough people and equipment it was almost impossible to shake a tail. When it was one on one it was a lot harder, and when the tail didn't want to be noticed the difficulty was increased again. The one good thing about hiding was that whoever was being followed wouldn't try to escape. Except Nightwing had thrown that out the window when he had had Matt impersonate Cold. Nightwing had handicapped himself.

That being said, it would take a hell of a large handicap to effect someone trained by Batman.

Lisa ditched the cab four blocks later outside the sciences museum. Nightwing was about to cross the gap to the building's expansive roof, but his prey turned down the street instead. Nightwing crept to the edge of his roof then shimmied down the side of the building as she joined the crosswalk to his side of the street. He watched just long enough to see which way she was going, then stepped into the street ahead of her.

He kept his pace steady loose glancing sideways every step or so to catch Lisa's reflection in shop windows and the windscreens of cars. She was coming up behind him fast her steps long and purposeful. At the next corner he turned and let her slip past him. If she glanced in his direction he didn't see it.

Nightwing watched his target stop at a light and settled into the familiar pattern. Most chases weren't like the movies, not the long ones anyways. It was a game of cat and mouse. If the mouse didn't lose the cat in the first five minutes or so there was a good chance the cat would win. Most times there weren't long drawn out sequences where the mouse ran down allies knocked over garbage cans and jumped in front of cars to get away. Those kind of things tended to draw attention and made it easier to judge where the mouse was going.

If the mouse got in a car then they had to obey traffic laws. Even professional drivers couldn't pull off bond film stunts more then half the time, and definitely not for any stretch. Plus that was when whoever was driving was clued in to the chase. No such luck with a taxi. Provided they didn't move towards one of the highways Nightwing was sure he would be able to keep up.

As he ran Nightwing shed the expensive dress coat, reversing it so a worn but serviceable brown was the new exterior. His silk tie was abandoned in someone's rooftop garden. The pants and shoes couldn't really be helped but after scrambling down fire escapes and climbing drainpipes, they probably wouldn't look like part of a suit in any case. He pulled out his belt and wrapped it around him over his shirt but under the jacket. If Lisa did catch him following, he didn't want her to connect it to the party if possible.

Lisa's cab wound through downtown and headed northwest. Nightwing was just running out of serviceable rooftops at the edge of Beverly Hills when the cab pulled up to the sidewalk outside the LA county Museum of Art.

Nightwing hadn't expected that. He slipped down to street level and made for the crosswalk as Lisa paid her driver. She was glancing around, noting the people on the street. Her eyes slid over him. Nightwing didn't pause, didn't glance at her, moving with his shoulders hunched and his cord roughened hands stuffed deep into his pockets. The streets weren't crowded but there were a couple dozen people scattered around the various buildings and the park next to them. He didn't stand out.

Lisa turned toward the buildings, but waited on the stairs until the taxi had pulled away before heading into the westernmost building. Nightwing picked up his pace to follow her.

Nightwing hadn't thought she would head for a public place, and moreover why another art gallery? Was there another event he wasn't aware of? Moreover it would be a lot harder to keep track of her in the enclosed twisting passages without her noticing. He could only switch his jacket around so many times. When putting things together for the evening he hadn't exactly had a chase in mind. He had planted the tracker in her bag, so he could drop back if it came to it, but Lisa wasn't just some airhead showgirl. There was a good chance she would notice the tracker or just ditch the bag at some point and he'd be out of luck.

She elbowed the door open and Nightwing caught it as it closed. There didn't appear to be any events going on; there were hardly any people at all. Why did things have to go south now? Lisa was glancing around again, not so much looking for people as taking in the space around her. Nightwing slid through the door and turned towards a table covered in pamphlets. He glanced over them, then turned, leaning against the wall and pulling out his phone, pretending to text.

Again Lisa's eyes moved over him. This time they lingered longer. Her posture shifted slightly. Nightwing couldn't tell if he'd been made. He kept himself relaxed and a moment later she turned away sharply, biting at her bottom lip. Apparently not yet, but she was watching. If she spotted him again he was probably done.

Lisa headed for the other end of the lobby where the coat room and ticket counter waited. Nightwing muttered a half curse under his breath. He had to follow her in or she could slip out some back way, but buying a ticket directly behind her would push it too far. Then Lisa turned and instead of heading for the ticket counter she walked up to the coat room attendant. Nightwing shifted so he could read her lips and watch the attendant's face at the same time.

 _Excuse me, I was in here the other day and I think I forgot to pick up my bag._ Lisa was leaning forward slightly, one hand fiddling with a strand of her hair. For the moment she was totally focused on the girl behind the counter.

_Of course, it happens. Do you have your tag?_

_I don't. I remember the number though, it was 71. It's a brown shoulder bag with a pink and green flower on the flap._

_I'll check for it, and I'll need some ID since you don't have the tag._

_Yes, of corse._

Lisa pulled something from her bag and showed it to the clerk, who nodded and retreated further behind the counter.

Somehow Nightwing doubted that this was just about a bag. He sent a quick text to Oracle asking her to get him a copy of the security tapes for the last few days. If this was where she had come first then he wanted to know what was in that bag.

After a minute the attendant came back with a brown shoulder bag. She passed it over and the two women smiled at each other. When Lisa turned back toward the entrance rather then heading into the building Nightwing pushed off the wall and headed for the door as well. He pushed his way through then held the door open behind him. Lisa took the bait as common curtsey and nodded to him as she passed. She was careful, and still aware. She avoided his attempt to brush against her, and avoided a second tracer in the process. Professionals could be so annoyingly competent.

She headed back to the curb and since he was already right there, he walked beside her, far enough back that she wouldn't see his face unless she turned but far enough forward that she could still see him out of the corner of her eye. Better not to panic her by standing where she couldn't see. It wouldn't seen strange if he didn't stay for long. Besides they were headed for the group of Taxis lined up by the corner. Nothing more innocent then trying to catch a taxi, right?

A family was already loading into the lead taxi so Lisa too the second. Nightwing headed for the third. He considered telling the man to follow that cab, but it just seemed too cliché. After as many years heroing as he had, he had learned that cliché more often lead to bullets then to dramatic irony. Except when it lead to both.

He opened the back door of his cab, and turned toward Lisa. He was at a bad angle for lip reading but he was close enough to hear half of what she said. Put the two together and her destination was the Swanson Yacht Club off the Marina Del Rey. He gave his own driver the address and followed Lisa's tracker with his phone.

The two cabs took different routs. When Nightwing arrived Lisa was already down at the docks. Probably better that way, he could watch her without getting to close again. With a pair of binoculars from his belt he watched her clim aboard a mid-sized pleasure boat. It was white with a light green trim on the edges and from a distance looked like there might be a small cabin below decks. The name on the stern read _eclipse_.

Lisa untied the craft and soon it slipped away from the dock and quietly navigated out of the harbor. Nightwing let it go. Even if he could find a place to rent a boat this late in the evening, he wouldn't catch her. It would be obvious she was being followed out on open water for one. Instead he went back to his phone and made another request of Oracle, this time information on the boat. Then he texted Matt a thank you and a message that he had been successful and would call if he needed more help.

It may not have seemed like it from the outside but the evening had been more productive then he had expected. Time to do what he was good at and follow the trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wally ran to the one place he knew would be absolutely safe. His aunt Iris's house. Ok so maybe it didn't have armored reinforced doors or a security system that would outsmart anything, but he had been running there since long before he got his powers and it hadn't really failed yet. His speed lessened only when he was in the neighborhood and when he let himself fall back to normal speed he was in her living room.

His hold on Linda sagged and she lessened her death grip in response. Her face came up away from where it was tucked into his shoulder and suddenly she was looking at him. Yesterday, even an hour ago he would have given anything for her to look at him with that intensity. Her eyes were a mixture of awe and hope. He set he back on her feet. He wasn't feeling anything.

Everything he had slowly built up over two years was now in ruins. In hours the whole city would know some version of what had happened and they would all have one fact terribly wrong. The Flash had not returned. Not that that would matter to the people, or the rogues, or Batman.

He was dead. Batman would find him and if he didn't someone else would. He would have to run. He had to get away, had to run, and find somewhere that no one could find him. Run fast enough that he broke through time and space to the places where no one could catch him.

“Easy, easy there kid. You're ok. Just cool down and think for a minute, you're ok.” the voice pulling him back towards the living room, and he realized he was vibrating a dent into the hardwood floor. Darn, Iris would kill him. He tried to pull back the energy and found himself looking up into Jay's winter blue eyes.

“That's it. Come on back kid. You know if I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to spill your secret just to impress a pretty girl.” Jay leaned in conspiratorially. “Not that I would blame you.” From behind Jay an elderly woman thwaped him lightly over the head.

“Behave.” she told her husband in a tone that said she had seen everything the world had to offer and was not impressed by his cheap attempt at humor. The tone was made a lie by the smile tugging at her features.

Wally managed a weak laugh and the tension drained out of him a bit. It had been an age since he had seen Jay and Joan Garric despite the fact that they were like grandparents to him. In some ways the Garric's were the perfect picture of an older couple. Both of them were silver haired with laugh lines around their eyes, and they had been married long enough to know what the other was thinking most of the time. Joan made the best apple pie he had ever had and Jay had been the one to teach him baseball between saving the world missions. As the first Flash even Barry had gone to Jay for help more then once and even though he had been retired for ages, to Wally, that was always who the man would be. Jay had created the legacy that he was just following blindly.

“So, are you going to tell me what made you rush in here like that after all this time?”

Jay knew. Knew he still had his powers, knew he was trying to cut himself off from them, knew everything. He was the one person Wally had never expected to fool. Jay was also connected to the speed force and could feel everything Wally did, if he cared to pay attention.

“I don't know.” Wally said. “It was Weather Wizard and, I don't know, I just, reacted. He looked over at Linda who had been guided into a chair by Joan. His eyes were wide, his expression locked into something between shock and helpless fear. “I wasn't thinking, and now.” he turned to look back at Jay. “I don't know what to do.” his words had managed to stay at a steady pace throughout, but as if to counter it his hands never stopped moving.

“It's okay kid. We'll figure this out. Why don't you walk me through it. One step at a time.”

Wally nodded. He started talking, then started pacing. The words weren't coherent to his own ears as if he forgot everything he said as soon as it passed his lips. He couldn't look around, just kept his eyes on the floor, afraid that if he did look up he would be alone. Jay stayed with him, not pacing but always standing. Laying a hand on his shoulder when Wally would pass him, being there. Joan had managed to materialize a pot of tea and sat on the couch next to Linda. For her part Linda seemed to be coping fairly well. While Wally recounted the afternoon's events to Jay she quietly asked Joan questions.

“Wally is the Flash?”

“Was dear and no not quite. He was Kid Flash, but he gave all that up when The Flash died two years ago. He was only fifteen then, and the man was like a father to him.My Jay tried to pull him out of it but, Well, you remember how it was back then.” Joan kept her tone soft. Laying everything out as simply as she could. “And when it comes down to it everyone handles things at their own pace. Trust me, if you meet enough speedsters you learn that lesson plenty well.”

“Speedsters? There are more of them, you?”

“Yes there are a few others, though Flash was always the fastest. My Jay there is retired now but he was a hero once. There's Jessy Quick who inherited her father's powers and Max Mercury, though I haven't seen him in a dog's age. He might be gone now. The price for his powers was being pulled through time you see.” Linda just nodded silently. “Barry and Iris had a pair of children who decided to live in the 32nd century, and then there's Wally.”

Linda drank her tea then looked at it and put it down as if they were all just sitting there talking. “No, this can't be it. We were just attacked by the Weather Wizard. I was saved by a guy who I might kind of like, who just happens to be there and all of a sudden we're gone, and having tea. I don't even know where I am.”

“14 Linnwood Drive since we appear to be telling secrets.” another woman had entered from a door that Linda thought led to the kitchen. She was tallish with a lean build, auburn hair that was beginning to show strands of grey and hazel eyes. “Joan already got you tea? Good. I'm Iris, Wally's aunt. This is my house. I'm sorry we had to meet like this rather then more pleasant circumstances, but my nephew always has managed to get himself into trouble.” The new woman came forward to sit lightly on the arm of the loveseat. She was facing the group, with most of her attention on Wally.

Wally stopped pacing long enough to turn in her direction and let his arms come out in a helpless gesture. “Iris.”

“It's true.” Iris had that spark in her eyes. It was the same spark as when she was turning a mark to give her just the right quote. “Ever since he was little. He used to spend summers here and he would drive me insane, always running off. Took me a month to figure out where he kept going off to.” Iris turned to Linda and continued conspiratorially. “I really should have guessed, it was fairly obvious in hindsight, but it was across the city. I still don't know where he got the bus fare. Anyway he was going to the Flash museum. Back then he didn't know who Barry really was. We were still dating you see, and Wally thought he was boring, but the Flash. He adored the Flash. Drank it in like a sponge, his room covered in posters. It was adorable.”

“Aunt Iris.” Wally was clearly being embarrassed worse then if she had pulled out baby photos.

Worse Linda was grinning and it wasn't a good grin. “Well I did kind of suspect he was fanboy at heart. I mean I don't think I've ever seen him wearing anything other then a red shirt.”

Iris was chuckling. “So you picked up on that? You know once he became Kid Flash I could always tell when he was trying to do something sneaky because that was the only time he wouldn't be sporting the Flash logo.” Iris moved from the arm of the loveseat to sit next to Joan so she was across from Linda. She leaned forward as she finished as if imparting a secret.

Linda's eyebrows went up and she let out a laugh.

“Linda. Iris.” Wally pleaded managing to make the names understandable before his voice degraded into a moan. His shoulders had slumped forward, and it looked like he couldn't decide whether he should throw up his hands in defeat, or move forward to force Iris back into the kitchen where she couldn't make this any worse. His former panicked energy had almost completely disapated.

Linda was tempted to make a comment about his face now matching his shirt but that would have been going too far. She did owe him for saving her life after all.

Jay put a hand on Wally's shoulder. “Face it kid, you've lost. Best to accept it with dignity and make a dignified retreat. You can help me with the beer.” He guided Wally out of the room at a normal speed.

Linda let out a tense breath and looked at the other two women. “So, do you want to explain what we were doing there?” Her voice had lost it's amusement, it wasn't hard yet but it was clear she wanted an answer or it might get hard.

Iris leaned back and looked at her with growing respect. “Well, as I said: my nephew, Wally, was Kid Flash until two years ago. When the Flash was killed Wally didn't react well. Jay says it was partially physical. They can all feel each other through the speed force, and before you ask I can't really explain what that is beyond the source of their power. So when Flash died, Wally could feel it. He withdrew into himself. He spent days just sitting at the kitchen table. He refused to use his speed. I think, well we all think, that he was trying to break his connection to the speed force. It didn't work, and eventually I got him to start living again, or at least pretend like it.

“Then one day he used his speed. It was something normal. I think I asked him to go out and get me some milk, and he did it. He used his speed and he fell apart. I eventually got him to come out of it but it took a while. That wasn't the only time it happened. It's survivors guilt. He's getting better overall. He can use his speed now without breaking down if he actually thinks about it, but if he's surprised he'll still react and then when it's over he'll fall to pieces.

“So we distract him. Let him bleed out the energy through embarrassment and mindless tasks that he can't feel guilty about. It'll only work for so long but it's the only thing I can do.”

Iris looked wistfully at the door that Wally had left through. Her voice had caught when mentioning the Flash but she had taken a breath and moved on, talking about Wally with dozens of layers of emotions behind each word. In this matter she wore her heart on her sleeve. Even a stranger could tell how much she loved him, and how much she was hurting to see him like that. Linda processed that information for a few minutes before asking the one question that seemed most pertinent to her situation.

“Why are you telling me?” the two women looked up at her and at first they didn't seem to understand. She went on. “You shouldn't be telling me this. It's a secret, his secret, and yours. I'm just a stranger and I'm not going to tell anyone but you don't know that. For all you know I could be planning to sell you to the Rogues the first chance I get. Even though that's not the case it's still a danger. Someone could put the pieces together and track you all down using what I know. You told me your address for heavens sake. I mean, I played along because Wally seemed, well, he seemed about to freak out and that would have been more then a little terrifying. With Weather Wizard, I don't even know what happened, it was all so fast. You could have shoved me out your door and I would have had no clue who any of you were. Even Wally would have been just a blur, and he was carrying me in his arms. It's not that I'm not grateful for the explanation or whatever this is but, why?” at some point while she was talking Linda had picked up her cup and now she held it in a death grip.

“You know,” Joan said taking a drink of her tea. “I think I like her.”

“Mmmm Yes. I can certainly see why Wally is so smitten.”

Linda's face took on a slightly pink hue. “Are you going to answer my question or not?”

This time it was Joan's turn to talk. “Oh I wouldn't worry about it dear. The danger would have been there in any case so we might as well have told you.”

“I don't understand.”

“Well, from Wally's account, he saved you right?” Iris waited for her nod. “And there were people around to see it?” Again she waited for confirmation. “Then trust me, by the end of the day people will not only be saying that the Flash has returned but you're his girlfriend. Someone in that mess will have gotten a picture or a cell phone video and then someone will recognize you and they wont think anything of it but the news will spread. Trust me on this one. I was in that exact same position. Only I was trying to get a story at the time, you don't even have an excuse.”

“To be fair you falling into him like that was fairly suggestive.” Joan was looking sideways at Iris and this time it was her turn to blush.

“Joan, I tripped. There was an explosion.” Iris sounded a lot like Wally in that moment.

There was clearly a story there, and once she wasn't the one getting teased she started to feel a lot more at ease.

“Besides.” Joan went on. “The Flashes were never all that worried about secret identities. My Jay never even wore a mask, just that old silver hat of his.”

Iris was nodding. “Barry once told me he put together his suit because there was less wind resistance at low speeds, and the bugs of corse.” Iris settled into her chair. “Secret identities is one of the lines no one crosses. Mirror master could have found out who the Flash was any day of the week. The Pied Piper had plenty of opportunities before he reformed. It wouldn't be hard for any of the other Rogues either, even a regular citizen. But if one of the Rogues started using his identity against him Flash would do the same. Before he died, Flash had the Lords behind him, and even if he didn't, with his speed it wouldn't be hard to search through a city. Half of the Rogues identities are known in any case. They may not be public knowledge but they are public secrets. Out of costume there's a kind of truce. The Rogues don't attack families, and Flash doesn't go after them if he see's them on the street, even if he knows they robed a bank just yesterday.”

Linda didn't seem convinced. Iris pursed her lips and turned to Joan. “Maybe you can explain it better.”

Joan finished her tea and nodded. “Let me see. Well, you know that every city has it's group. Metropolis has, or had, Intergang. Gotham has both Two face and Penguin trying to be top dog. Again this is more how things were then the last few years but you get the picture. In Central and Keystone we have the Rogues. But unlike other groups the Rogues have a code. Well there are exceptions, never trust Zoom. The reverse Flash is bad news.”

“Abracadabra too, best to stay away from him.” Iris put in her two cents.

Joan was nodding sagely. “They're both from possible futures though. Most of the Rogues from this time period are reasonable. They don't hurt children. They don't have anything to do with drugs. They don't just mindlessly kill civilians. It's the reason the other heroes and villains from out of town never took them seriously.”

Iris crossed her arms and pressed her lips together. “Shows what they know, given that the Rogues are running this city now.

Joan laid a calming hand on her arm, but was looking at Linda. “Does that answer your question Linda? It is Linda isn't it? The introductions got a little lost.”

Linda Nodded and drank her tea as she processed the information. It was a lot to take in, and while Linda was normally quick on the uptake, these people were something else altogether. Suddenly she had been dropped into the middle of another world and she and no idea where to take it.

 


	14. Chapter 14

 

When the invitation came she immediately knew what it was. Zatanna had just finished up a matinee and was free for the rest of the day. She had been planning on going back to her apartment flopping down on her couch and watching something ridiculously childish, but when she got to her dressing room she found the elegant little card perched by her mirror. It was simple enough at a glance white card-stock embossed with letters in a dark greenish gold. On the front was her name, her full name, and nothing else. Inside in the same gold lettering read: We would welcome your company. Underneath the overly formal calligraphy was a hand written section, though the precision of the text was almost as exact as the printed words above. The crisp black ink read: A table has been reserved at the Marquee for 8:00, we would enjoy your company to discuss a mutually beneficial business arrangement. The card was signed not with a name but with a pair of birds circling each other, one red the other white.

The card was ridiculously elaborate. It had to have been printed professionally and because they had stamped her name on the front they couldn’t have ordered a stack of them. Someone was throwing money away to impress her. Not that that was so out of the ordinary, but mostly when it happened the person behind it wasn’t interested in business.

To add to the off factor, the card had been left in her dressing room. All her mail was sorted and Marie was rigid about keeping other people out of her space so no one could have been bribed to put it there. That had put her guard up, and everything else was just too perfect. It had only been a few weeks since Oracle had tipped her off so she had been waiting for it. Everything Oracle had said had later been verified. She probably shouldn’t go. That would be the smart thing, avoiding temptation and all that. There was definitely danger and she didn’t even know who she would be meeting. One day that curiosity really was going to get her killed.

Zee picked up the card and considered her options. She really didn’t like going into things when she didn’t know the score. Her magic was faster than a lot of other spell casters but she still needed time to prepare a spell if it was something big or a spell she hadn’t practiced much. The magical community may look down on her for doing the shows but it was a great way to get experience. When it came down to it there was no practical way to find out more about who had sent the card before tonight. For something like that she would need a full ritual and she wasn’t sure she had all the ingredients on hand. That left the location.

They had probably picked the Marquee because it was upscale without being too extravagant. It would also offer a public location while giving them enough privacy do business. In giving her the location though, they had given her an opening.

Zee called down to the Lobby and asked for the number to the Marquee. A minute later she was speaking to a peppy woman at the restaurant. “Yes, hello. I have a reservation and I just wanted to make sure my assistant got all the details right.”

“Of course, what was the name?” if there were any more bubbles in the woman’s voice she wouldn’t have been able to get the words out.

“Zatanna Zatara.” Since the card hadn’t been signed there was no one else she could ask for.

“One moment please. Yes here you are, the appointment was made for 8:00 with a table on the floor reserved for three. Is that correct?”

So, there would be two of them. She had figured as much but it was a nice confirmation and a table on the floor meant a good view of the entertainment but no privacy to speak of. The Marquee was known for having a great floor show. They probably wanted to put her at her ease but she had her own plans. “Actually, no. I’m going to need the table at 7:30 and if you have a private room available…”

“Of course, I’ll make the changes now. That’s 7:30 for a private booth; will you still be expecting three people?”

“Yes, thank you so much.”

It was almost four now so that left her just enough time to grab her kit from her apartment, change into something more fitting and get to the restaurant in time. This was going to be entertaining.

When she arrived at the Marquee she informed the hostess that her companions were running late. She was directed to a table in a private niche with curtains that could be drawn closed to give more privacy. She ordered a bottle of white wine and drew the curtains closed. She had chosen tight black leather pants and a blouse that hung off her shoulders revealing more than a little cleavage. Not the most elegant ensemble but she didn’t want to get caught in a dress if she needed to run. Plus drawing symbols on the floor would be a lot easier in pants. Everyone assumed that just because she could cast a spell by saying it backward that was what she would do. There were plenty of other types of spells and she had dabbled in more than a few of them. When she was satisfied she drew back the curtains and took the offered glass of pale gold liquid, and settled in. When two strangers were led to the table they found her at her ease and completely in control.

The chalk on the floor went unnoticed.

As the two men took their seats Zee studied them from behind the rim of her glass. The first was a tall, broad shouldered man. He had short-cropped dark red hair and eyes that only just managed to stay on the brown side of black. He had the proportions of a football player and walked like he knew how to handle himself his features were on the blocky side and were currently creased into a frown. Pity, he had a statuesque appeal if he bothered smiling.

The second of the pair was shorter though only by a few inches. He had a leaner build then the first man, with enough muscle to show he was active, a runner maybe or a swimmer. His dark blond hair and grey blue eyes went well with features that were only a few degrees softer then his companions.

Both of them were young, maybe mid-twenties. They looked relaxed around each other; moving to cover each other without conscious thought. It might have seemed odd on someone else but not for them, for them it was natural. They were brothers she realized suddenly, or possibly cousins. Their features were close enough and they moved around each other could only be from years of practice. All in all it was quite a ways from what she had expected. Then again, who was she to say no to two handsome men trying to get her attention? This would only make things more fun.

The first man sat, dropping into his chair without formality. The frown on his face had turned into a glower. The second glanced at his partner with a slightly exasperated expression. They were definitely family. Before he leaned across the table and held a hand out to her.

“Hi, I’m Don Hall, and this is my brother Hank. Thanks for meeting us.”

Zee let him shake her hand, nodding at the other brother and keeping her smile in place. She had totally called it.

“I’m sorry if we kept you waiting, I thought we were going to get here early.” Don was smiling lightly. Apparently he was the talkative one.

“It’s not a problem. Your invitation caught my interest and I didn’t have anything else to do so I came over a bit early myself. Would you prefer to eat first or get straight to business?”

Hank made the choice by flagging down a waiter and asking for menus with a kind of gruff courtesy. Zee sipped her wine. She was content to let the silence stretch. She wasn’t about to give out any information they didn’t already have, better to let them get things started and then twist the conversation as it went. Don looked so awkward as no one said a thing, it was cute.

“I saw your show.” Don finally said to break the silence. “A few weeks ago. It was impressive. That one trick you did, with the roses and making the tiger jump out of the painting. It was great.”

“Thank you, I work hard at it, and it's always nice to meet someone who appreciates my art. What about you? What do you do for a living?”

Don hesitated, a slightly uncomfortable expression on his face. He looked at his brother. Hank just gave him a slightly mocking smile and Don rolled his eyes as a chagrined expression claimed his features.

“That has to do with why we wanted to speak to you. But first, can I ask a personal question?”

“You can ask.”

“Your magic. Both of us saw the show, and it's clearly not just a trick, but, well I don't want to offend but who's your sponsor?”

“Excuse me?” the Stanton Hotel where she performed could be considered her sponsor. They were the ones who held her contract, but she didn't think he was talking about a piece of paper.

Hank spoke up for the first time. “Don's trying to ask what power gave you your magic. Personally I'm betting you're just one of the wild born, but they don't normally have that much control so he think's that can't be it.”

Zee was briefly left without a comeback. Just blurting out a question like that was not done in magical circles. For those who were empowered by a being of the outside realms telling another person would hand them the keys to your strengths and weaknesses. Hank was right about the wild born as well. Wild magic took many forms and when it landed on a child it would often give them traits or abilities without any rhyme or reason.

Luckily the waiter arrived to take their orders so it was easy for Zee to cover her lapse. “Bit of a personal question isn't it. After all I don't know anything about you.” She said when the waiter had departed. It prompted another glance between the brothers, one she couldn't decipher.

Don nodded, “That's fair enough.” He paused for a moment, and seemed to be organizing his thoughts before he spoke again. “The reason I ask is because, if you are wild-born, you could be a valuable resource for our project. I know that sounds a bit ominous, but trust me we have nothing but peaceful intentions.” Hank snorted and Don shot him a short glare. “As I was saying. Our project is based around the study magic as a natural force. We're trying to gather as much data on the different types as we can and finding extraordinary cases help us draw a line between what the average person can do and what a practitioner can do, or what practitioners of different levels can accomplish. Magic has been around a long time. Maybe with a bit of help, people with this gift wont have to hide it anymore. I mean, we're not a bunch of superstitious townsfolk anymore and people are always more comfortable when they know that there are rules.”

“You want to out magic to the world?” she wasn't sure she could picture it. The mystery was half the power of it. Of corse that was thinking in terms of being attacked. You were always safer if no one knew exactly what you could do.

“Not all at once. But the world is already on the edge. Morgan LeFay tried to take over the world only a year ago, Felix Foust, Aries. It's kind of hard to deny that magic exists when an avatar of war has just smashed your house.” Don glanced at Hank again and this time Hank just grinned with some kind of dark humor.

“If the only known examples of magic are super-villains, well, it gives us all a bad name.”

The food arrived while Zee was going over his words. From a certain point of view it made sense, but still, that was putting aside everything the magical community felt as well. This issue was far more complex then Don had portrayed it. Zee knew exactly how hard it was to display your magic talent to the world, and she hid behind the excuse of trickery.

Then there were his exact words to consider. He had said 'all of us' not 'all of you' or some other variant. Going back to their first question, she was betting they had an otherworldly power backing them. She wondered which one, or maybe ones. They seemed very different for brothers, a pair of entities playing off the bond maybe. It put a new spin on things if they were part of Oracles' mysterious group. Time to test that theory.

“You're doing this on your own?” her tone said she didn't believe it.

“No, we're part of a group. There are actually quite a few of us. We're working on quite a few things. Like I said understanding magic a bit better comes first. Widespread acceptance is more of a long-term goal.”

Zee decided she liked Don. He was reasonable and polite, it was a real pity she was going to have to do this but it was clear he wasn't going to give her a completely straight answer. She shifted in her seat and put a foot on one of the symbols she had chalked onto the floor. “Tell me about your group.”

It was designed to be a subtle working, compelling the person to answer and to want to answer fully and with the truth. It wasn't that they couldn't tell a lie, but without knowing about the spell it just wouldn't occur to them to tell anything but the truth.

“Well, I only know parts of it. Me and Hank are fairly new, we've only been a part of it for nine or ten months. There are some members who have been helping out for years. There are a couple of major departments. The whole thing is run like a company although it's more like a charity in some respects. There's the identification department, which identifies magic users across the country. It provides help to families who need it in exchange for information. There are even several housing projects we've set up, for protection of corse and so that no one will have to worry about persecution. Then there's the more scientific sections where actual research is done they're set up in conjunction with our training facilities. A lot of the people we find don't know what they can really do or how they're doing what they can. Quite a few of them are a danger either because they don't understand their own limits or because they don't understand the consequences of what they're doing. We have more experienced practitioners working almost one on one with younger members. Let's see, what else...”

Don paused seemingly to think and Zee pressed her advantage.

“What's it called? This group of yours.”

“What? Oh, well it's kind of a conglomeration of smaller companies depending on what branch you're working with, but we're all under the Cadmas umbrella so...” he gave a half shrug and grinned.

Hank growled and for the fist time in minutes both Don and Zee turned in his direction. He put one hand possessively on Don's shoulder making Don look a little confused. Hanks attention turned to Zee and now he was showing his teeth in something that was in no way a smile.

“Whatever you're doing stop now. Only warning.” His voice was gravel.

How did he know? The spell should have affected him as well. Had he been watching for it somehow? That would make sense, it was what she would have done. Keep one of them back just in case, while the other watched the target. But neither of them had seen the signs she had been watching for it and there would have been some reaction.

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

Hank snarled and his eyes unfocused. He tilted his head back and forth like some kind of animal looking for a scent.

“Hank?” Don was snapping out of it now too. He looked at his brother with a focus that pushed aside the subtle weaving of her magic. Eyes met and something unsaid was passed between them. Hank was suddenly standing. He turned and pulled the curtains closed around their table. Zee braced herself.

Hank stood over the table, his back to the curtains and the room beyond them. He fixed her with his dark eyes and snarled out a single word. “Hawk.”

Still in his chair Don said a word as if breathing out a sigh. “Dove.”

The world changed.

To her eyes it was like they were writhed if fire and light, power wrapping around them like ribbons, but to her magical senses it was so much more. The world unfolded as if it was one of those origami flowers. Then someone reached in and added color to the paper, reds and blues in swirls of energy. It added a new dimension to the world then refolded the paper and contained it. The magic was kept tightly wrapped around the two figures, not a spark escaping or bleeding over, and Zee had to wonder just how they could stand it. Couldn't they feel how they were being remade, every atom changed, their very soul touched by something they could never fully comprehend. It was terrifying.

In a rush she threw out the first defense spell she could think of. “Yats Yawa.”

When she could see again she found them still where they had been; Hank, or Hawk, standing opposite her and Don, Dove, calmly still in his seat. Hawk was dressed in white body armor his mask and chest emblazoned with sharp outspread wings in a bright red. More ribbons of red power fell away from his shoulders in arcs, the allusion of a tattered cape. His hands were covered in red gloves and she had to wonder if he even realized it made it look like they were covered in blood.

Dove stood and put a hand on Hawk's shoulder. Dove was covered in blue fabric. His white cowl and short cape had a soft blue dove emblem over his eyes to serve as his mask. The soft allusion of feathers was continued in the symbol on his chest. His gloves were white, and if the symbolism was being continued it probably meant something along the lines of his actions being pure.

“Hawk. She didn't do anything wrong.”

“She was compelling us. Taking away our will.”

“And you noticed and stopped it. The spell's already unraveling, you can feel it. Besides I didn't say anything I didn't want to.”

“She had it set up. Can't you see, she came into this ready to point a gun at us. People like that wont listen to reason.”

“You would know Hawk.” Hawk turned his snarl on Dove, but the other man just met his eyes. “Please. If it goes any farther, we can do it your way.”

There was another moment of tension before Hawk settled back on his heals. He crossed his arms and fixed his eyes on Zee.

Dove nodded and turned to Zee as well, then he paused. He leaned forward slightly, and she could feel him testing her spell. She winced but dove was smiling. He sat down again and rested his head on his hands.

“That's a nice shield. It just keeps people away right? Simple, and hardly foolproof but quite effective. I like it.” He paused and studied her in silence for a minute. “Well,” he said finally, “Since it seems to be my turn to ask a question. Why the compulsion?”

She almost had to scoff. Was he really that ignorant of the situation? His earlier analysis of his own organization had been ridiculously idealistic, but surely he couldn't be that innocent of the world.

“Right, because I should totally trust a mysterious note that shows up in my dressing room with no warning or even a proper signature, then go to meet a pair of strange men who want to offer me a sugar coated deal. You think people haven't tried to buy me before? And that's giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you weren't going to try to drug me and hold me for ransom or offer my blood to some demon. Don't laugh, it's happened, twice. Hell, by all rights the smart thing would have been to not show up at all.”

Hawk was grinning down at Dove, his arms still crossed but his posture otherwise more relaxed then it had been before her outburst. “See, told you.”

Dove shrugged, but he was smiling “Ok, you've got me there.” Then his expression sobered. “So, now that you know we are none of the above and actually just want to talk, how do you want to play it? Personally I'd rather not have this escalate, but i'm sure Hank wouldn't mind so it's your choice.”

Zee blinked at him. This was a truly impossible man, but he had a point; they all knew where everyone stood now, more or less. From here it could go in a number of ways. It led her back to the reason she had decided to accept the invitation in the first place. She never had decided what to do with Oracle's advice. Well, there was one idea, but it was probably a really bad one.

“Fine. Talk. But if afterwords I tell you to get lost, I don't want to see anyone from your organization ever again.”

“That's agreeable, but before I give the recruitment speech would you mind answering my original question.”

What supported her magic, what gave her access to that energy?

“I am one of the gifted.” Hawk rolled his eyes and turned away. Zee rolled her eyes right back. “You're obviously new at this so I'll fill you in on a little fact. Most practitioners aren't like yourselves, and while a good section are wild born, most who actively practice are none of the above. There are plenty of old bloodlines that have been taming wild magic for centuries. In some families magic has even become hereditary. Plus there's more than one type of magic. Just like there's wild magic, magic of chaos, there's magic that naturally falls into more ordered patterns. People who have talents manipulating the existing patterns are known as the gifted, though there are other names of corse. Most of those name's aren't very flattering. I practice ordered magic, incantations, potions, sygals like the ones you're standing on. Does that answer your question?”

Hawk couldn't help but look down, point Zatanna.

Dove was nodding. “Yes, that does make more sense, and it means you're exactly who we need.”

“You want to explain that or am I going to have to start playing twenty questions?”

“Sorry, it's just that most of our people are specialists. Very few of us have the background and power to coordinate different kinds of practitioners. One or the other maybe but not both. Take me and Hawk for example: plenty of power when we need it but zero background in actual spells. You though, clearly have the background and enough power to earn the respect of those you would be teaching and leading.”

Zee leaned back in her chair. “No, I must be misunderstanding. You want me to what? Teach kids. I'm just a showgirl and you want to put me in front of a classroom?”

“Well, I think your experience would would be a great asset in that area, but the job we were actually sent here to offer you is that of an agent like ourselves. We need more people who can handle a lot of different things. Go where they're needed, help where it's required, and sometimes take people down a few pegs when they've crossed a line. Not a lot of practitioners have the right kind of talent for combat, as I'm sure you know. You would be helping a lot of people.” Don seemed so convinced. His voice was the definition of honest. She had to wonder if he had drank the cool-aid voluntarily, or if maybe Oracle had been wrong.

“I don't know. I've got my life here. My shows...” She trailed off. It was actually kind of depressing that her work was the only thing that came to mind when she thought about what she would be leaving behind.

“You don't have to decide now, but it's good work, and with your talents you'd be well compensated.”

Zee got to her feet. She had had enough for one night. She needed to think and she said so. Dove also rose to his feet. At some point her spell had dropped and he took a step forward to offer her a business card. It was a fairly plain thing with a number on one side under the same hawk and dove symbol that had been the signature of her invitation.

“When you're ready call.”

She nodded and made her escape.

It took her two days to make her decision and call the number.

“I'm in.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtney had been grounded. She had been directed to come straight home after cheerleading. She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or just bang her head against a wall at that. It probably showed just how out of touch her mom was that she still thought Courtney was going to cheerleading, or maybe it was wishful thinking. One thing was clear though, if she came home before cheerleading was over and her mom found her then those two hours would be stripped from her as well. All over one little math test. Life was so unfair.

Courtney pulled her sweatshirt down a bit making sure it covered the power belt. The belt wasn’t on but she had taken to wearing it around whenever she could get away with it. She would have loved to be able to fly at the flip of a switch but the staff was a bit much to try stuffing in her school bag, and super-strength wasn’t a bad second. Having the option to pound some sense in to all the stupid people, even if she never used it, was a secret joy in her otherwise dismal life.

Still other than that first time, her secret flights had been rather unremarkable. Blue Valley really was just that boring. There weren’t even any punk kids vandalizing the school after-hours.

Wandering around and trying to window-shop was failing to entertain her, and there wasn’t enough of a down town to have anything interesting to do. She was not going to spend two hours in the library, not going to happen. She didn’t even have enough bus fare to get to the mall, not that hanging out there would be any better. So she walked and hoped for a burst of inspiration.

Inspiration came in the form of an unremarkable concrete building with a worn out and badly painted sign, that proclaimed it “Grant’s Gym.” Courtney hadn’t even realized she was in the right area. When that old guy had made the offer to stop by she hadn’t really ever considered taking him up on the offer; but now she was here and she did have the time to kill. Ok so taking up some stranger on an offer like that was probably like stamping ‘I’m an idiot, please attack me’ on her forehead but she did have the belt if things got messy. Plus she hadn’t had a decent workout in like two weeks.

No risk, no gain. She glanced around, then stepped forward and pushed at the door. Unlike the outside the inside was clean if still worn. A solidly built wooden desk stood to her right with a guestbook waiting open. To her left were a pair of dressing rooms marked as male and female. She stepped into the space, drawn to the window in the wall directly opposite the door. Beyond the window and the door next to it was the gym proper. Raised sparring mats covered large sections of the floor, with a standard size boxing ring over by the far wall. Other areas were set up with weight machines and punching bags. A section of wall near one of the mats was lined with mirrors, while other walls held training weapons, wooden swords, and staffs of different lengths. It was a nice setup and it was clear that everything was in use. Not all at the moment though there were a couple of guys wrestling on one of the mats and another group near the weight machines. It was more that everything showed signs of use, wear and tear around the edges.

It wasn’t like one of those super bright high tech, super clean, super efficient gyms, for people who wanted to stay in shape while doing as little as possible. The man who had put this together knew exactly how much you got out of every bit of effort and what happened when you didn’t put in enough.

He was also walking across the gym towards her.

She stepped away from the window and tried to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind. There was still time to run, probably, maybe, ok maybe not. He came through the door, only glancing at her as he slipped behind the desk and pulled out a bottle of water. When he had undone the cap and taken a drink he turned and leaned against the wall, still behind the desk, and gave her a nod.

“Umm Hi?”

“Welcome to Grant’s Gym. I’m Ted Grant.” There was a sparkle in his eyes and a faint smile on his lips as he spoke.

“Umm, yeah, I know.”

The sparkle grew. “Really now? We’ve never met. I think I’d’ve remembered someone like you. Oh I know, you must have seen one of those old adds I had done up a while back. Yes that must be it.” His smile was now full blown and conspiratorial.

She got it. Of course she had been in costume the last time. He was reminding her of the fact while laughing at the shared joke. Courtney decided she liked this old guy. She mirrored his smile and nodded.

“I’m sure it was something like that. So, does anyone here know what they’re doing or am I wasting my time?”

He took another swig from the water bottle and nodded at her. His smile had softened but the sparkle was still there and now he was studying her more closely. “Tell you what. If you’ve got some time and any workout clothes in that bag of yours, I’ll give you a free lesson.”

“A lesson?”

“Sure.” He wandered out from behind the desk and went to lean in the doorway to the gym proper. “All those fancy martial arts may teach you a lot of tricks, but there’s nothing better than Boxing to teach someone how to throw a punch, or take one. Corse, if you had something else in mind I’m sure we could work something out.”

He was daring her to get in the ring. He wanted to see what she could really do, and she loved it. Athletics were one thing that she excelled at and no one ever seemed to appreciate it if she wasn’t prancing around in a miniskirt. She shrugged her bag off one shoulder and headed for the dressing room. She had an old t-shirt that would be fine for a workout and her shorts wouldn’t restrict her movement too much. Good enough for an impromptu workout. A few minutes later she walked out onto one of the mats and started some basic stretches.

They only spared for about two minutes before Mr Grant, who insisted Ted was just fine and Mr. Grant makes him sound old, stopped to give her pointers. He was actually paying attention to her one on one which was a new experience. Even in her old kickboxing class there had been a group. Moreover he wasn't nice to her. Oh, he made sure not to hurt her, and he was obviously an expert, but he didn't go easy or tell her to take her time and she'd get it eventually. He pushed. Two hours left her exhausted, desperately thirsty and feeling as loose as a wet noodle.

The walk home let her cool down into a state of blissful relaxation. So much so that Courtney brushed off her mom's disapproving greeting, and went to take a shower without bothering to learn what it was this time that had managed to ruffle her mom's feathers.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Red Arrow met Piper just outside Decoda and they drove in together. Neither were in costume though each carried weapons close to hand. The meeting spot was a truck stop about twenty miles out of town. Red had borrowed one of the unremarkable, untraceable cars that the resistance kept ready. Piper arrived on the greyhound. He climbed off the bus, with the rest of the passengers, bag over his shoulder. Most of the crown migrated over to the huddle of fast food joints for the scheduled meal and smoke break. Piper lingered by the side of the bus until the driver emerged. The driver consented to open up the storage under the bus for Piper to grab out a guitar case. Only then did Piper look around for Roy.

It was the first time the two resistance leaders had met face to face though each knew the other by reputation. Roy sized up his new partner, taking in the long red blond hair and patchwork jean jacket. His shirt practically screamed natural fibers. He was the picture of a hard luck hippy artiest. When Piper had pulled out the guitar case Roy had nearly turned around right then.

The hard fact of it was that Piper had been out of the game for a while. For all Roy knew this wasn't an act. Sure rumors of his talents had circulated a few years ago but he had been out of the game since before the Flash and Roy wasn't sure what to believe. He trusted the man as his counterpart in the resistance to Central City. Piper knew people, and could get things done, but that didn't mean he was still ready for action in the field. Maybe this had been a bad idea.

Piper saw the look Roy was giving him, and grinned back, giving Roy his own once over.

"You do realize that you're going in looking like you're ready to attack?"

Roy's arms were already crossed so he stuck out his chin, narrowing his eyes at the other man. Piper put his own hands up in a conciliatory gesture.

"Hey I'm not criticizing, but if someone's looking for us, someone carrying a concealed weapon, with a pair of duffle bags with conspicuous bulges and an out of state license plate is more likely to get pulled over. Unlike an up and coming musician who just got his first gig and is just trying to make a buck in a new town." Piper waved at his own attire "I might even be able to pull off my look. Not that you can't pull off urban warrior or whatever you want to call that, but I thought we were going in low profile."

Roy had to concede the point. There were trying to avoid attention if at all possible. That was why he had chosen piper in the first place. Red dropped his arms but had to make one last point.

"We may be going in under cover but we both know this area is a hot zone and I want to be ready."

Piper grinned at him again. "Yeah I know. This isn't my first time at the rodeo." Piper shrugged off his pack, setting the guitar case aside for the moment. From three different pockets he pulled out a set of flutes. The first was a professional number in polished stainless steel. The next was wooden, and looked to be hand carved with curving designs running up and down its length. The third, appeared to be a recorder like something a cheap middle school would employ, off-white plastic covered in the wear of use. The three instruments had each been hidden in their own pocket and easily reachable whether the bag was slung across pipers back or simply near to hand.

Slipping the woodwinds back into place he brought forward the guitar case and opened it with a snap. Instead of a guitar the case held a violin. It looked to be a high end one too, though Roy knew next to nothing about that kind of thing, and lovingly maintained. It was tricked out with bars and modulators on the neck and body that were clearly of Pipers own design. With the violin taking up only a portion of the case the rest had been modified into compartments holding tuning forks, tin whistles, and a kazoo.

Piper carefully replaced the instruments, flipped the lid shut and slipped back into the personality he had been wearing. He added a light accent, a subtle drawl to his words as he hoisted the case back over his shoulder.

"I think you'll find I'm ready. What about yourself? I don't want to be arrested if someone pulls us over, crossing into town."

Roy snorted, but the piper decided to press the issue.

"Hey, you were the one said this was a red zone. No one can get arrested for carrying a bunch of instruments. At least not yet. It's half the fun of what I do. Now, a bow you might be able to get away with, but I know the look of a shoulder holster when I see one."

Roy shrugged. Piper had showed him all of his toys it was only fair to reciprocate. He unzipped his jacket and opened it enough to show the handle of the revolver.

"I have a license and permit for it. It's all above board. They can't hold us because of this."

"And the others?"

"Are in a secret compartment that nothing short of tearing apart the car will find."

Piper shrugged. "If you say so. Have you got a cover story for us?"

Roy hadn't really thought in that direction. He had memorized blueprints and security features, but a cover story wasn't something he had planned. Going in was supposed to be the easy part and if they needed a cover story when leaving they would be luckier than anyone alive. Somehow Roy didn't think that was the case.

After that many years preventing crime he knew plenty of ways something this big and complicated could go wrong. The smallest thing, the smallest mistake on any of their parts could set off an alarm, and all of a sudden they would be swimming in not only uniforms, but the local heroes as well. Possibly more then that if the universe hated him.

Roy shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. I take it you've come up with something?"

Piper looked him up and down. "Well, a musician with a bodyguard isn't too uncommon. That work for you? That would cover the two of us, not sure about our third." Piper looked at Roy and his expression had shifted to flat skepticism. "You did say there would be a third."

Roy silently bristled. Ok so he hadn't told piper they would be working with Livewire and vise vera. It wasn't that he didn't trust either of them to get the job done but working with two cons or ex-cons was bad enough. He wasn't going to let them plot together behind his back before they even got started. Not that he was much better these days but old paranoia died hard. When he had contacted piper he had said he was still looking for a third.

"Livewire. She's waiting for my call. When we're ready to go in I'll signal her and she zaps herself to the nearest relay junction. Then we do a quick overview and get to work."

"You sure that's the best idea? Whoa, hey, I'm not trying to step on any toes here; it just seems like Static might have some kind of defense against that kind of thing. At the very least the city should have surge blockers given who their hero is."

Roy had settled into a glare halfway through Piper's argument, but logically Piper did have a point.

Piper gave Roy a minute before he tossed a question into the silence. "Have you ever, actually planed a heist before? I mean full on intention to steal something, not just creep in and read files."

Short answer: No.

Red Arrow had done a lot of things. He had hacked into government and private databases alike. He had snuck into dozens of evil lairs, and crashed nearly as many devil summoning rituals. He had planned heists for others, and handed off information to people who would use it to do worse. Once he had even acted as a decoy for a prison break. And that wasn't counting the numerous chases he'd been a part of or the times he had foiled a heist by breaking in first and setting a trap.

"Ok look, I'm not trying to take over, or override your authority. I just want to help. I have done this before."

"Years ago."

"I was wondering when we were going to come to that. Yes I went straight, About the same time the Lords went over the edge; way safer that way. That doesn't mean I didn't keep my hand in the game or that I don't know what I'm doing." Piper waited in silence for a moment before locking in the final hook. "You were the one who asked me to help, so maybe we could set aside the hero villain stereotype for a minute and figure out all the angles." He held out a hand. "Truce?"

Red Arrow looked down at the hand. He had never been much of a teem player, even when he had been leading the teem. Still, they couldn't afford his selfish preferences right now. There was too much on the line. He didn't take the hand but he did look up and meet Piper's eyes.

"Alright, what did you have in mind?"

Piper looked up at the sky for a moment. "When were you thinking of going in?"

"There's a shift change at six."

Again Piper considered. "That might work. Shift changes can be tricky because it's the obvious time to strike but it really depends of the guards. Six is good, there will still be people in the building, but the nine to five crew will be gone so you've got people to blend in with, without being crowded. Too early for cleaning staff, not too late for an evening meeting. Were you thinking of going in through the front?"

"If you think you can handle that."

"With my music? That big an area would be tricky, I've seen the schematics it's a big facility. Unless they had an amazing comms system it would be really hard to get to everyone. Maybe if I kept the message simple, more suggestion then hypnosis. I could probably make everyone tired or forgetful, or slightly giddy. Make it easier for us to slip in under the radar, it would depend on Livewire then."

Roy tilted his head asking for an explanation.

"Well, I'm assuming she's handling the non-human security?"

"Unless something comes up and we need the firepower."

"Ok well, that means our speed will be dependent on her. She may be living electricity now but her background was as a disk joky not a hacker. I'm guessing some random warehouse wouldn't be a problem but STAR labs is a slightly larger target."

"Aren't you focusing on getting in a bit too much? I mean it'll be getting out that'll be the hard part."

"Maybe from a heroes perspective. The last time I participated in a heist with the Rogues we spent four hours planning the five minutes between the front door and the front desk. Think of it this way. The minute the alarm sounds the only way to get out with your skin is to turn tail and run. If you've got whatever you came for, great! If not, then you're kind of fucked. You can't plan for all the variables when there's a hero breathing down your neck. At that point it's plan for the worst, hope for the best, and pray things go your way."

Roy watched Piper's face. His instinct was to get angry, or defensive but Piper had laid everything out in a calm rational voice as if they were discussing something completely tone it's self was a defense; not just against Roy's anger but against anyone who might wander past.

Piper was good at this.

Once Roy had admitted it he was able to set aside some of the tension. "What do you recommend?"

Piper grinned. "I recommend we pick up Livewire and hit a sandwich shop. Never plan on an empty stomach."

* * *

Courtney had found herself back at the gym a couple more times that week. Then her mom found out. She wasn't pleased that Courtney had been lying about Cheerleading. Courtney had pointed out that she had quit the squad a month ago, and why couldn't her mom bother keeping up? They had fought and Courtney's grounding had been extended. So naturally Courtney upped it to every day after school. She quickly met the few regulars and settled into a changing routine. Ted would sometimes give her more Boxing lessons, but just as often she would spend time on the treadmill or in front of the mirror practicing her staff work. He had been right, back when they first met; it did need work.

She was comfortable at the gym. It was a place where she could just let go and not worry about whatever issue was being forced on her by her mom or her teachers. She started coming so often that Ted gave her her own locker and told her where the extra key was hidden. It wasn't like there was much to steal in the gym but he acted like it was a big deal and she was grateful.

Then the letter showed up and the fight happened.

The letter was from her dad, her real dad not Pat. Courtney knew her dad wasn't the best guy in the world. He had gotten into more than one bad situation, and even though Courtney had been shielded to an extent she knew enough to fill in the blanks. He had worked for one of the bad guys at one time. He had been captured along with his boss and a bunch of others and had been in jail ever since. Courtney's mom had used it as the excuse to get the divorce she had been trying to get for two years. Her mom had moved on, but Courtney hadn't. He was still her dad, and if he was getting out like the letter said then she wanted to see him. She wasn't an idiot, she wasn't going to run off with him or ask him to take her away or anything but she didn't think a visit would be too much to ask.

Apparently her mom didn't agree.

It had quickly escalated into shouting because she just wouldn't listen, and Courtney stormed to her room angry enough to punch something. She fell onto her bed, then, still angry, she got up and stomped to her closet. From down the stairs her mom shouted to stop stomping.

"Oh I'll stop stomping all right." Courtney muttered. She pulled the staff and costume out from the back of her closet and added them to the belt she was already wearing. Her window again became an escape route as she headed into the night, bad guys beware.

Unfortunately it was an extraordinarily quiet night even by Blue Valley standards. By the time she had circled the school for the third time frustration had joined anger and resentment. Well, if no one was volunteering to get punched she would just have to make due.

The heavy bag in the corner of the gym wasn't one of her normal workout props, but it definitely served her purpose now. She hammered into it putting all her weight behind the strikes and occasionally throwing in a kick just to mix things up. After a good fifteen minutes she was breathing heavily and feeling worlds better. She leaned forward letting her forehead rest against the bag as she let her heart come back to a normal rhythm.

A minute later she realized she was hearing voices and went still in the semi-darkness.

When Courtney had come in the gym had been dark. She hadn't bothered turning on the big fluorescents, instead she just turned on the lights by the mirror and let it filter through the large space. It wasn't like she needed a lot of light just to punch something. Now she was wondering if that had been a good idea. What if someone was trying to rob the place? What if they were hiding from the cops? What if…?

Courtney mentally slapped herself. Hadn't she been out there not half an hour ago looking for that kind of thing? She had the belt and the staff; she could take anything they could dish out. Grabbing the staff from where she had leaned it against the wall she held it at the ready and moved forward in the semi-darkness. The tones became more distinct, two male voices in a serious discussion. They were both passionate about what they were saying while trying to keep their voices down.

"Can't be serious. This is too much, and you know…"

"I know something needs to be done, and unlike you I'm willing to act."

"Not the point. You know my views on this."

"Yeah yeah, protect our own, stand ready, wait till hell freezes over."

"Unlike you I can't afford to throw my power around."

"I'm not asking you to. I just want to know if he's felt anything, and since I'm supposed to be dead I can't exactly go calling up old friends."

"And why may I ask would I visit Keystone completely out of the blue?"

"Well just because I'm dead doesn't mean you can't visit an old friend."

"And when two of the old powers… Wait, did you hear that?"

Courtney winced. She hadn't thought the squeak her shoes had made had been that loud especially with the air conditioners but apparently she had been wrong. She froze, watching the green light that marked where the two men were speaking just out of sight beyond the window of the front office. She had no idea what was causing that light but given the fuzzy shadows she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth now.

"What did you hear?"

"Shhh."

One of the shadows, possibly the one that had shushed, made a gesture as if to wait. Courtney stopped breathing. The green glow seemed to soften becoming so defuse that it no longer cast shadows. It was like the light was hanging in the air putting a filter over the world without actually illuminating it.

She had maybe two seconds to realize the trap was closing around her. It was just enough time to pull in a gasp of air and raise her staff; then the green bubble of energy had closed around her and the world was spinning as the floor went from flat to round. She landed on her butt, but managed to keep the staff up. Then the source of the green light stepped into her line of sight.

She might have thought he looked ridiculous if his aura hadn't been so overwhelming. His costume consisted of a red shirt, green pants, red boots and a purple and green cape with the most ridiculous collar she had ever seen outside of black and white cinema. Seriously the man had to be color blind. No one could be taken seriously in that get up. And yet the ring on his finger was burning with the source of the light and the moment his eyes found her she stopped even thinking about resisting.

When the man spoke his voice wasn't loud but she could feel the weight in his words. "Who are you?"

She couldn't answer. She could barely keep breathing under his attention.

"Stargirl?"

Well, apparently she didn't need to answer. The green man's attention wavered, and she was able to turn her head enough to see the second figure. He was dressed from head to toe in dark gray. The dark canvas of his pants were tucked into worn black boots. Even the white tape binding his wrists looked faded. At first she thought he was wearing a tight sweatshirt, since there was what appeared to be a hood pushed back and hanging down his back. Then she made the connection, it wasn't a hood it was a cowl, a mask that would cover his whole head if it had been up. Despite the fact that he wasn't wearing the mask it took a moment for her to connect the face to Ted despite the fact that it was a relatively subtle change from his usual wear.

He walked up and stood next to the green man, examining her through the bubble. "Your stance is terrible."

"I'm in a bubble made of green light. I think my stance can wait."

Ted Shook his head, half rueful, half disappointed. "You can let her go Lantern. She's a friend."

"Lantern? As in Green Lantern? Holy, Cheesecake. Wait, aren't you supposed to be black?"

The lantern's shoulders drooped at Courtney's words. "Stargirl was it?"

"Umm, yes..." Courtney really should start thinking of herself as Stargirl when in costume. That or choose a new name. Then again Stargirl wasn't the worst name she could get stuck with, better to keep it rather then end up with something worse.

"Well then Stargirl, for future reference please remember that while I am Green Lantern I am not and never have been a member of the Justice Lords. Including myself there have been four Green Lanterns. John Stuart is the Lantern you are thinking of he is a Justice Lord and member of the Green Lantern Core. Unlike the others, while I carry the name I am not a member of the Core. Do you understand?" His words were rehearsed, as if he had to explain it over and over again and was tired of it. Stargirl nodded, her throat had gone dry when the Lantern had focused back on her.

"Wildcat, you vouch for her?"

Ted nodded. "She's young, just getting started. No allegiances, I checked."

So Ted's new persona was called Wildcat? And he had checked up on her? What was that about? Stargirl's thoughts were interrupted as the bubble around her abruptly vanished. She flailed out with her staff and managed to hover before she hit the ground. It made Lantern raise an eyebrow as if reevaluating her. Wildcat pursed his lips. It was the same expression he got when she managed a block or punch but not to his satisfaction. When she saw that look during their lessons she either shaped up quick or they spent half an hour going over one little thing.

Stargirl turned in the air until her feet were under her and settled onto the floor. She wasn't going to make a big deal of it but she was insanely curious about the whole situation. It was clear that Green Lantern at least was a real superhero powers and everything. She hadn't seen Ted use any powers, but after training with him she knew he was more then capable. Who knows maybe he did have some power she just wasn't aware of. She wasn't going to voluntarily leave now.

The two men seemed to be pondering the same situation. Wildcat looked at Lantern, his gaze steady with only a hint of a question in them. The Lantern met his eyes for a stretch, but the force of will that completely shut down Stargirl seemed to be ineffective against Wildcat.

"How much did you hear?" Lantern aimed the question at Stargirl without taking his eyes from Wildcat.

Stargirl decided to hedge her bets. "Some."

Lantern tore his eyes from Wildcat to look at her, then back to him. His shoulders drooped and his hands were thrown into the air. "She's going to be worse then you. I can tell."

Wildcat made a sound that might have been a snort or might have been a laugh, she couldn't tell which. Then it was wildcat's turn to look her over, and his look went deeper, taking in the drying sweat on her arms and the way her hair was still tangled from her earlier flight. When the question came it was casual.

"You don't normally come in this late..."

She looked away. "I needed to blow off some steam."

"You get into a fight?"

"With my mom. She never listens."

He grunted. "Good a reason as any to want to punch something. You come here straight or are there any sorry saps in an alley somewhere that need medical attention?"

She tucked some hair behind her ear, still not quite meeting his eyes. "I flew around for a bit, but I didn't find anything."

He nodded. "Probably for the best. You could probably take the average punk but you're not ready for the big leagues yet.

Her chin came up and now her eyes flashed up to his. "Hey, I can handle myself. What gives you the right to tell me what I can or can't do anyway?"

"You gave me that right when you took my offer to come in here and accepted the lessons. You've got some skill but I'm not going to let a fighter I trained into the ring before they're ready. Besides, you enter the game now and you're going to end up face to face with the Lords one way or another."

She hadn't thought of that. The Lords had always been distant semi-mythical figures to her. She saw them on the news making speeches. They weren't the kind of people you actually met. That would be... big, good or bad it would be the biggest thing she had ever experienced. Heroes were one thing. She was standing in a room with two heroes. She was a hero, or at least she had powers so she qualified, even if she hadn't really done anything yet, but the Lords were, to use Wildcat's words, in a whole other weight class.

Stargirl bit at her lip but didn't dispute his point. Wildcat nodded at her choice.

"Alright then. You've got a choice to make." Wildcat crossed his arms and laid it out for her. "You can leave now and forget you saw Lantern and me tonight. You took a flight to cool down then went home. Never came to the gym. None of this ever happened."

"And my other option?"

His breath was controlled and he kept his voice level, almost without inflection. "Your other option is to come back into the office with us and we finish the conversation." he gestured for her to wait before she spoke. "If you decide to join us that's it. You can't go back or change your mind later."

"I get it. Take the red pill, take the blue pill. The problem with taking the blue pill is that I would know I walked away from, well, whatever this is. I would know."

"Sometimes walking away from something is the safest, smartest thing to do."

Now it was Stargirl who crossed her arms. "Really? That's what you're going with? Because let me tell you, if I had wanted to play it safe I probably wouldn't have stolen a power belt and energy staff from my step-dads old boxes and proceeded to make a costume to go out and fight people in."

Wildcat let out an amused snort, but apparently Green Lantern had decided to join in. "This isn't a movie. This rabbit hole isn't one you can climb back out of. Think very carefully before you choose a side in this fight."

"What? Is this some anti-Lords thing? Are you part of some super secret organization, because if you are, I hate to break it to you but they'll think I'm one of you regardless. Do you think anyone he trained is going to get off the hook?" she nodded at Wildcat while still looking at Lantern.

"The kid's got a point." Wildcat shrugged and turned to trade a look with Lantern.

The Lantern met his eyes then shook his head. "It's still her decision, and should be taken seriously."

"I am taking this seriously. This is the only real choice I have, unless I want to go back home never come back and be a good little sheep. Do I look like a sheep to you?"

Green Lantern didn't seem to know how to answer that, so Wildcat just took him by the shoulder and led him back to the office chuckling under his breath. Stargirl followed a step behind. They settled in, Lantern leaning against the wall, Wildcat sitting on the edge of the dest and Stargirl perched on the only chair.

"Before we noticed you I was asking Lantern here to get in touch with a mutual friend of ours in Keystone. One of my contacts has gone missing, no ones seen him in a week and a half."

"And your friend in Keystone might know something?"

Wildcat nodded. "That's right. Max and Jay draw their power from the same source so Jay may be able to tell if anything's happened to Max. I can't go because most of the world thinks I'm dead, or at least think's wildcat is dead."

"You faked your own death?" Stargirl didn't bother hiding her interest.

"Sort of. Technically I did die but, well it's a bit complicated. I'll tell you another time."

"Okay, so Lantern goes over there and talks to him. Whats the big deal?"

Green Lantern decided to present his own defense. "The big deal is that my powers are noticeable. My counterpart in the Lords or anyone else with similar powers could trace the energy if I did anything bigger then what I've done tonight, and I can't travel undercover because my secret identity is a public secret in some circles. The Lords know who I am. They leave me alone because I'm retired. I've made it clear to them that I'm not interested in anything less then the end of the world. They keep an eye on me of course but I'm aware of it so we're all on the same page. A sudden and unplanned trip to Keystone would have them watching me like a hawk, which I have worked very hard these last two years to avoid."

"So." Stargirl filtered through the problem. "You want to help but can't without a good reason to go to Keystone?"

The two men exchanged a look then Lantern shrugged and Wildcat nodded. "That's about right."

"Then, how come they don't know you're here."

Lantern smiled and nodded, giving her the point. "Actually they do know I'm here. I visit his grave once a month."

Wildcat was grinning. "and I'm very touched. Thank you for the flowers."

Stargirl couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah I guess that excuse wouldn't work for your friend." she paused considering. "Why can't you just call him? I mean I assume you can't or you would have just done it."

"He's in the same boat I am." Green Lantern said. "the Lords are watching him. They'll have the phones bugged, waiting for any key words to be said."

"So if it was them, they'd know that you know, or something like that."

"Something like that." Wildcat agreed.

"Who is he? Your friend in Keystone."

Again the two men exchanged looks and it was clear they were silently debating something.

Wildcat shrugged. "Never was much of a secret with him."

Lantern was the one to answer her question. "He's the Flash. Not the one who died obviously, but the first Flash. The one who wore the helmet if you know anything about the legacy."

She didn't, but she nodded anyway. It had sparked something, some rumor about the Flash that she had heard offhand. "Is he active, as a hero I mean. It's just, I heard this rumor about Flash showing up there. I don't know, I can't really remember it."

"No, you're right kid. I've heard about that too. A red blur showed up and took down the Weather Wizard the way I heard it. That could be your way in." he was talking to the Lantern now. "we don't know it isn't Jay. Maybe you go and ask if it's him, be the concerned friend."

"And maybe I happen to ask about Max while I'm there?"

"Maybe."

Green Lantern sighed. "Alright, I'll look into it, but it may take me a while to get back to you."

"That's fine, I've got time. And speaking of, isn't it getting a bit late for you to be out?" that last was directed as Stargirl. She got the hint. The night air was chill as she slipped back in through her bedroom window. The original reason for her escape almost forgotten.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

Zee tried not to look overwhelmed.

The limo that had taken her to the airport had been nice, but as a headlining performer for a show on the Vegas strip, it had been par for the course. The private plane had been a surprise but not much of one, since by then she had been expecting at least first class. She had been told that her destination was a private facility on the Canadian border, and had done enough research to know what the complex looked like from space. She hadn't expected the private plane to come with a private airfield and a second waiting limo. Zee knew from her research that the closest town was twenty miles away and was more of a farm town than a proper city. Where had they gotten the second limo? Had they just had it sitting in a garage somewhere? Then they had reached the compound and Zee realized that that might have been the case.

The facility was huge. There was nothing out here to compare it to, so her sense of scale had been thrown completely off. In the pictures she had seen, there had been seven buildings. There weren't seven buildings; there were seven complexes. Each one was built like a stack of boxes haphazardly piled atop one another, leaving gaps in the forms of covered walkways between sections. While the area surrounding the facility seemed to be overgrown farmland with scattered patches of tangled oaks and ash trees, the central area between the buildings more closely resembled a well kept college with large lawns and carefully tended flowering trees. The buildings seemed to be made of subtly patterned bricks with steeply slanting roofs, adding detail with texture rather then color.

The car passed a relaxed checkpoint and curved around the outer buildings, coming to a stop at the foot of a sweeping set of steps that had been carved out of some yellowish stone. Zee opened the door before the driver could make it around the car. The more she considered her surroundings, the more they reminded her of a successful college campus; people walked or ran between buildings when they weren't using modified golf carts. At around a quarter past eleven people were already gathering for lunch, handling sandwiches out of brown bags, microwavable plastic containers, and Styrofoam cups. They were scattered across picnic tables and strategically placed benches. An open amphitheater space placed dead center between the buildings had been taken over by an enthusiastic group of young people with instruments. They would start up on one song or another before getting interrupted and breaking off only to start again a few minutes later.

Two of the three inner complexes that surrounded the square had large windows that had been opened to catch the wind that came up between the buildings. The building up the stairs was the one without windows, or at least without large ones. There were recessed windows every so often but none of them were open.

Zee had had her magical defenses up since before she had landed, but while there was more than an average amount of random energy zipping around, none of it seemed to be hostile. It felt like a dancing spark that quickened her pulse and made her want to run and laugh. It was the same feeling she had always gotten in school when they were halfway through a late spring afternoon and all she wanted was to be out of there and living as fully as she could. It caught Zee off guard. She had expected hostile defense spells and subtle manipulations like the one she had constructed at the diner. She didn't believe for a second that this place would be as perfect as Dove had made it out.

The lack of obvious spellwork only made her solidify her defenses. There was a possibility that they were really as incompetent as they seemed, but Zee wasn't going to bet on it.

"You must be Zatanna."

She turned. The man who approached her was a few inches shorter than she was, given she was wearing three-inch heels. His white lab coat marked him as some kind of doctor or researcher, though not one who worked constantly in the labs if the casual shirt and tie under the coat were any indication. His hair had once been brown and full, but now was mostly gray and retreating back from his forehead. He had a sizable but well-trimmed mustache and a short beard to compliment it. The finishing touch was the square-rimmed black glasses perched on his face. The man held out a hand.

"I'm Professor Emil Hamilton, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Zee used the handshake to probe the man's aura. He seemed to be a logical person, with practically zero talent for the arts. There was a sense of lonesomeness draped over him that overshadowed the other features of his personality, but she did manage to catch sight of the well of secrets that he kept at his core. It solidified her opinion of the facility. Even if Oracle hadn't given her a heads up about Cadmus she would have been on her guard from that.

"The pleasure is mine."

"Your trip wasn't too dull, I hope. Being stuck at the back end of nowhere can get a bit taxing." He gestured for her to follow him back up the steps. She shook her head and joined him. "Good. The plan was to give you a quick tour of our facilities, then let you settle in this evening. Most of our traveling representatives assist when they can between assignments, so you'll probably be working with our students for the first few weeks, unless..." His face turned hopeful as he paused. "I don't suppose you have any experience in biology?"

"I'm afraid not."

"A pity. We could use an extra hand or two. Biology is my department, so you'll have to forgive me if I go on about it."

"Wait." They had reached the top of the stairs and Zee halted in her tracks. "You're the head of a department? Shouldn't you be doing something more important than playing tour guide?"

"Normally yes, but you've come at a unique time. You see, as soon as all the paperwork goes through, and I've been assured that it'll ready for pick up by the time we get to the employment office, you will have one of the highest clearance levels on base. Only fourth or fifth or maybe sixth from the top. Someone with a higher clearance level has to show you around. Normally we have Jason do that kind of thing, but in this case, he's, well, attending to a friend of his somewhere out of the country. It came up rather urgently so there was nothing much anyone could do about it. That and the fact that the biology department has turned into a bit of a joke in the past few years has made me the only one with a high enough clearance who still has the time to spare."

Hamilton had turned as he had answered her question, but there was a small self-pitying smile on his face.

"I see." She wasn't sure she really saw anything, but the internal politics of anything this large and complex had to be equally so. "If you don't mind me asking, why is Biology a joke?"

He gave her a glance as she joined him at the doors. "Well, you see Cadmus has actually been around for years. I've been here for the last twenty or so and the director of Biology for the last twelve. Well, it wasn't called biology back then, it was the Applied Genetics Division. Then about four years ago, things started changing. The company moved in new directions. All very boring and tedious, but in the long run it landed us here. Forgive me if I sound cynical, I'm a man of science stuck in the middle of a gaggle of people trying to quantify magic. My division only still exists because I'm a senior member of staff and most people believe me when I say we can find the genetic key to all of this." He waved a hand to encompass the whole of the complex and everything it contained.

Zee blinked at him and had to focus on not tripping over a woman walking in the opposite direction. "You think there's a genetic component to magic?"

"Of course there is. All the old magical families, the bloodlines, the magic that can only be inherited. Then there's the random element of who manifests talent in wild magic. There has to be some biological component that makes some people more receptive. Come, it's this way." He turned her down another corridor between what looked like suites of offices. Zee decided to keep her mouth shut about his hypothesis. He made a good argument, but magic was magic and sometimes that's all there was to it.

Hamilton stopped at a door marked "Employment and Personnel." He motioned her inside, then waved at one of the couches while he chased down the right receptionist and managed to get a copy of her paperwork. Zee had seen it all before. The contract had been faxed to her weeks ago and she had gone over it in detail, making copies of her own. Working in Vegas had taught her to be very careful with her money and that had turned into being careful with any contract, written or verbal. When Hamilton finally seemed satisfied that all the paperwork was in order, he handed over the file that was to be her copy and once more led her from the room.

"I thought we could start with your rooms, and then get on with the tour after a quick lunch. It looks like they put you in the Gamma quadrant. You'll have your own apartment here in the facility, and three meals a day are included in your pay. You can eat at any of the four cafeterias or shop and do your own cooking. We have a company store which you'll get credit to and anything they don't have on hand you can order. You can of course go into town to shop if you prefer but it's something of a drive. Then again I suppose you will be traveling so perhaps that will be just as easy."

It went on like that.

Her set of apartments was on the third floor with a view of the central square of the complex. There was a bedroom, bathroom, sitting room and a small kitchenette. All were furnished in unremarkable standard beige. It would suit her needs, but had no personality of its own. After making certain that none of the things she had had delivered had been damaged, Zee consented to going down to lunch. The cafeteria again reminded her of something from a college. The food was fine, certainly edible, but Zee imagined she would end up doing her own cooking. Disregarding the possibility of poison or other harmful attacks, cafeteria food never had enough spice for her tastes.

The afternoon was what she had been waiting for. Zee didn't imagine they would walk her through the buildings, introducing her to their innermost secrets, but this was her first look inside the beast since Oracle had made it apparent that she hadn't been able to get in. Everything from today on forward would be new information.

Zee was somewhat disappointed. The different departmental offices were no doubt important, but cubicles were never going to be interesting no matter how vital they were. The various labs were a bit more eye-catching, but since she didn't have the background to understand what was going on, there really wasn't much she could glean from the brief tour. Then came the classrooms; she really didn't know what else to call them. Students of all ages worked independently or in small groups. They studied texts, marked out symbols and in generally attempted to perform magic.

It was chaos.

No wonder she had felt so many random energies when she had arrived. No one seemed to be closing their spells properly. Energy was leaking through the spellwalls in every direction, making most things being attempted a colossal waste of effort. And a good thing too, since no one seemed to have buffers or circle barriers built into their casting. The things that were being attempted were so far out-of-scale that she couldn't imagine how anyone who knew anything could make such mistakes. Half the spells she observed were built up in such a complex way as to be a knot of cross-purpose energies. Others were just missing whole sections or had all the pieces but didn't connect any of them, leaving loose threads to dissolve without purpose.

It was the blind leading the blind. Zee was seriously considering telling Oracle that these people would never be any kind of threat, except if they did manage to accidentally stumble on something right. They would probably end up blowing up a chunk of North America given how much power they had gathered.

They were passing through a series of what Hamilton had called 'practice rooms' (which seemed to mean forty-foot square boxes with padded walls and high ceilings) when she snapped. The boy in this room, a young man really, was working on what looked like a summoning spell and it was getting ready to blow up in his face. Zee snatched at the door, flinging it open as she took a breath to shout.

"Od ton evom!"

A full paralysis spell wrapped around the young man just as he started to reach out to activate the sigil Zee stomped forward and ran one foot across the chalk lines, smudging them and dispelling the energies. When she was satisfied that nothing otherworldly was going to try to get through, her wrath was turned on the boy.

"What were you thinking? Never try a summoning without containment, and don't even get me started on your matrices. Do you have any idea what might have happened? Do you have even the slightest notion of what you did wrong? No, of course not, in here without supervision, trying things above your level. Who the hell is teaching you? Well?"

The young man just looked up at her from where he as kneeling, blinking a few times. He wasn't bad-looking now that she got a closer look. His soft white hair was cut short and seemed to match his cloud gray eyes. His features were strong too, a defined nose and a strong jaw. The tight dark blue T-shirt and black jeans might have helped, and now that she was closer she was forced to re-estimate his age. While his features were open and full of emotion his eyes looked like they had seen the world and everything on it. No, he certainly wasn't the fifteen- or sixteen-year-old she had at first thought; early twenties maybe?

"I believe he's still under your spell." Hamilton had stepped through the door behind her. He had his hands tucked away and seemed to be studying the situation with clinical attention over a hint of amusement.

Zee looked back at Hamilton, then took a breath, drawing in focus and calm. Normally she wasn't this high-strung. This place was getting to her. She whispered the counter-spell with a single released breath. "Uoy nac evom."

With a slight slump, the tension went out of the amateur summoner. He picked himself up quickly, and in one fluid move, stood. Zee was surprised to find he was two or three inches taller then her.

"That's quite a spell, I haven't seen a binding quite like that before. It's very effective. I'm Hector Hall." He offered a hand and she responded automatically to the social custom, taking it. There was a slightly awkward pause as they let go. Hector looked down at his ruined spell and Zee found herself looking away. How long had he been working on it, and she had stormed in like the world was on fire and thoroughly wrecked it. Way to make a first impression.

"Sorry about that. I just felt the power twist up like that and..."

"No, it's fine. I don't think it would have worked anyway. I thought twisting a summoning matrix around might kind of give me a back door for teleportation, but like you said, the energies."

"Wait, you were trying to use a summoning matrix to build a travel spell?" Her eyebrow had gone up and one hand settled on her hip. Zee wasn't sure if she should be re-evaluating him or if her initial response had been the right one.

He shrugged and an adorably sheepish expression claimed his features. "Maybe. No one seems to know how, so I've been kind of making it up as I go."

Zatanna took an involuntary step back. "No one?" Travel spells were one of the magical staples, at least in the circles Zee normally traveled in. Going between places, times, dimensions, hell, plenty of more powerful casters built homes in pocket dimensions.

Hector shrugged. "No one I've talked to, unless you know how?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, you'll have to give Mr. Hall a lesson then. Maybe he could even show you a few things. He's one of our best." Zee had completely forgotten about Hamilton. If vanishing while in plain sight was one of his talents, then she would have to be more careful. He went on without pause. "It seems you're finding a place here already."

"Maybe," she consented uneasily.

For some reason, the idea wasn't exactly comforting.

* * *

Wally manned the grill.

He couldn't talk to people right now; he knew that this party was a bad idea. He also knew that Iris and Jay were trying to cheer him up, and he was doing his best to let them. He needed it. He needed to keep moving. If he stopped he would realize what he was doing, he would see the path laid out in front of him. Wally couldn't look, couldn't let himself think too much, so he plastered as much of a smile as he could on his face and worked his way through the endless packets of hot dogs. Occasionally he even made one for someone else. It wasn't that the party was a flop. A surprising number of people had showed given Iris's time constraints. Joan and Jay had arrived early to help set up, but it hadn't been long before the others had started to trickle in. Jesse Chambers and her boyfriend Rick dragged in a friend of theirs who was introduced as Grant. Sandy seemed to come out of the woodwork and had migrated over to their group. Wally had known all of them once upon a time. They were all legacy heroes or retired legacy heroes. Jesse had inherited her mom's strength and her dad's connection to the speed force, though she typically had trouble using them at the same time. Rick also had super-strength, but in hour long increments. As far as Wally could remember, Grant had some kind of atomic power, but he had only met the man once so he could have been wrong. Sandy had been a kid sidekick without powers, only to gain them through some accident or other. Now he could move through stone and transform into sand. Last Wally had heard he had been using his gifts to travel where no one else could, delivering messages and sometimes more then that.

Garfield was the next to arrive, immediately taking the center of attention; but then it was hard not to when you were green and fuzzy. Beast Boy was younger than Wally by a few years, but they had always got along. They hadn't spoken in the last year though. It had gotten tense after BB had accepted a part-time post as a Lieutenant to the Lords rather than lose his powers. That might have been why he didn't know his new girlfriend; Terra projected confidence, despite being covered in dust with her hair pushed back to clear her eyes. Sandy had stopped talking and was paying particular attention to her, not in a romantic way but as if measuring her somehow. Then Raven had arrived, just stepping out of the shadow under the oak tree. She took one long look at Beast Boy and made an abrupt turn. Guess it was a bit awkward, since they had once dated.

Allen Scott slipped in quietly. He even managed to catch Jay off guard, patting his old friend on the shoulder before the speedster knew he was there. Jay laughed and was soon including him in the surrounding conversation.

Ralph Dibny and his wife Sue were the last to arrive. They greeted Iris as the old friends they were, passing over the flowers they had brought and making small talk with all the others.

After that, Wally waited. He knew others had been invited, and not just the few friends Iris had at the station. Iris would have invited any of Barry's old friends who she was still in contact with. Then there was Dick, Garth, and a handful of others who had been friends with Wally long enough to merit an invite to basically any party they threw.

Then self pity or maybe some intuition made Wally turn his feelings around. He didn't deserve even this many people willing to show up for him. He didn't deserve any of it. There they were, out on the lawn, talking, calling to each other, and laughing. Jay passed Sandy another beer and clapped him on the shoulder while Allen went on about something or other. Beast Boy had followed Raven back into the shade of the oak and was pleading to her back, his tail twitching nervously. Jesse had been dragged into a corner by Rick. Her fingers were creating wrinkles in his collar. Grant and Terra having both been abandoned had gravitated together and were now chatting in highly sarcastic tones. Sue was still catching up with Iris and after grabbing a plate from Wally, Ralph went to keep her company.

Linda was sitting with Joan. Linda still had a slight deer-in-the-headlights look, but Joan seemed to be easing her through it. The older woman would lean in, speaking in a hushed voice while nodding to one or another of the party guests. Linda would nod slightly, watching the person in question. Then Joan would say something and Linda would either laugh or turn back to blink at her in disbelief.

He should never have brought Linda here. He had gotten her involved. She was handling it so well, but she shouldn't have to. She deserved better.

They all deserved better, so why were they here? Why had they put themselves at risk to come here? Most of them were actively trying to stay under the Lords' radar. Jesse spent so much time working for her father's company that no one bothered to remember that she had powers. The only time Rick reminded anyone of his skills was to talk to kids about drugs. Both Ralph and Raven were hiding from the Lords as far as Wally knew. Of the whole group Beast Boy was the only one who could use his powers without fear of repercussions, and he was well aware of the leash around his neck.

Just being here was a risk, to all of them. The Lords weren't above grabbing people they thought were a threat without any warning. Green Lantern or Superman could have done it easily, just drop in from the sky and pick a target. Sandy might be able to get away if he had some hint it was coming. He could just drop through the ground and be gone. Same for Raven, just back into the shadows and vanish. So one of them would be taken out first. After that it would depend on who they thought was the most dangerous and how many men they had.

Since it had only been hours since his stunt with Weather Wizard, so many empowered people in one place probably wouldn't be seen as connected, but that didn't mean the Lords wouldn't be taking notes on every detail. Being here was putting his friends in the crosshairs.

Wally looked at Linda again. She flipped her black hair over one shoulder and made some comment to Joan. He was head-over-heels for that woman. He wouldn't let her get hurt for him. Wally wasn't going to let any of them get hurt for him.

A plate came into view and Wally took it, wordlessly filling the order for a burger with all the trimmings. He looked up to hand the plate back to… Linda. God, when did she get there? How could she just stand there with that slightly amused expression?

"Wally, my plate?"

Oh, right. Wally handed over the plate. Linda started to turn away, but Wally spoke.

"Linda, I'm—I'm sorry about earlier. You should never have been put in danger like that. I promise, I won't let it happen again."

Linda seemed surprised at the steel in his voice, but she nodded. Wally felt out his connection to the speed force and started vibrating. Linda couldn't help but gasp. As Wally's flow of power grew, the gasp slowed to last minutes. She was so beautiful, and he had jeopardized that. He had been handed her safety, the safety of the whole city, and had abandoned it. The other Flash had been right, he knew that now.

He wasn't going to let them—her—get hurt ever again. Even if it meant never slowing down.

Linda gasped as the figure in front of her became blurry and indistinct. A thrumming in her gut started up and slowly increased in pressure. The air started growing hot as Wally became a blur of red T-shirt and hair. Then suddenly the energy exploded and he was gone.

She had to wonder if she had imagined the smile there at the end or if maybe it hadn't just been a trick from the vibrations.

* * *

STAR Labs in Decota were as large as any of the other STAR facilities. It took up the equivalent of a pair of city blocks, with three buildings and a parking structure surrounded by a white stone wall with security cameras and guarded wrought iron gates. It was very pretty as fortresses went.

Inside the fortress were about three hundred and forty odd people. Since this particular STAR Labs specialized in bioengineering and other facets of meta-human medicine, about half of those people would be doctors or nurses or medical researchers. From there, the rest of the people would be divided up between office workers, security, other necessary personnel, and the occasional intern.

Of all the people on that list, the interns were the important ones. Nobody noticed interns in general unless they were ordering them about, and interns were likely to have strange hours since most of them also had other obligations. Most importantly, it was interns who ordered pizza at every opportunity.

"There is no way this will work." Red Arrow was leaning against the alley wall nearest to their chosen intersection. "Everyone searches the delivery guy, it's too obvious."

"Which is why we're stealing a van rather then going in with some pizza boxes." Piper was at the corner of the building, looking down the street, watching for a likely target.

"Okay, so what if no one orders anything?"

"A place that big? Trust me, someone is going to have a late meeting or tests to run—it never fails."

"Why did I let you talk me into this?"

"Because it's going to work and you know it. Come on, showtime."

Red saw the car Piper had spotted and against his better judgment, he twisted the dial of the pocket radio he had added to his belt. Livewire knew radio signals better than anything else and the pre-arranged plan wasn't rocket science. In the electric grid across the street she switched the traffic lights to red and left them that way.

The chosen target, an old blue Toyota with an illuminated Domino's ad protruding from the roof, pulled to a stop and waited. Piper and Red Arrow matched gazes for a moment before Piper gestured at the car.

"After you."

After dealing with Piper for the whole afternoon, Roy was frustrated enough to enjoy pulling open the passenger side door and turning to punch the young driver in the jaw. The young man rocked back, stunned, and opened his mouth to protest, but Roy hit him again and he went down for the count. Piper made his way around the car and after fiddling with the door for a moment, he managed to get it open. They need to get out of here. So far they'd been amazingly lucky that the street wasn't more highly populated. Roy reached over to hit the seatbelt button on the unconscious driver, and together they got the man far enough into the passenger side for Piper to get in and take the car down to a side street where no one would notice their actions.

Inwardly Red Arrow reiterated how crazy this idea was and that it would never work, but he won the coin toss to replace the driver, so at least he wasn't complaining about getting stuck in the trunk too. Piper silently thanked his stars that Livewire wasn't scheduled to join then until they got inside. Hiding one person in the trunk would be bad enough. If Piper survived the smell, they might just get in as planned.

Roy had never delivered pizza, before but he figured it couldn't be that hard. The guy he had knocked out had a receipt book that seemed to have an office number in one of the STAR buildings scheduled for a pair of larges. It was hard to tell with the handwriting. He pulled his wrist bow under the sleeve of the stolen Domino's jacket and put the car in gear.

Getting in was surprisingly easy. Roy kept his mouth shut most of the time, only speaking to tell the guard at the entrance about the pizza order. Once the guard had confirmed the order with the occupants of lab 214, he was admitted without any further questions. There was a brief scare in the parking lot when he couldn't find a space that wasn't in view of the cameras but he took a breath and used the radio to signal Livewire. A minute later the camera was off or on a loop and with a burst of static she informed him he was good to go. With Piper once more out of the trunk they tried to act casual as they headed for the doors.

A late businessman passed them as the elevator doors closed. Piper hit the emergency stop button, and then glanced at the camera in one corner of the ceiling. He turned and opened his mouth but before he could ask the question, a spark danced over the button panel. A moment later Livewire had jumped into reality with a fountain of sparks. The two men felt static dance over their skin as the overhead light shorted out.

"Well?" Roy was already halfway out of his shirt and reaching for the Red Arrow vest in his pack. Livewire's appearance hadn't been in the plan but if she had something to report, now was the safest time.

Beside Roy, Piper had moved to change as well, an overlong green hooded coat materializing along with some instrument from the woodwind section that Roy couldn't identify. Unlike Roy, Piper seemed to be unconcerned by Livewire's sudden appearance.

Livewire's figure flickered slightly and Red Arrow focused on her. He hadn't spent enough time in her presence to know if flickering was common, but if he had to guess he would have said she was nervous.

"Look, sorry, but I'm out of here. There's some massive fluctuations in the power grid for this place. They nearly carried me off already and I'm not taking another chance with this town's hero."

"You can't, the alarms!" Red Arrow tried to reach out to grab her arm, but she flickered back out of reach.

Livewire's expression had returned to the more standard cocky disinterest. "Not so fast hot stuff. Look, don't touch." She glanced at the elevator controls as if reading some set of instructions. "I can give you maybe a minute and a half if I reboot the security systems on the way out, but that's it."

Red Arrow had probably imagined that fearful note in her expression as she zapped back into the electrical systems. "Great, so much for the plan."

"No plan lasts forever." Piper was in full costume, going over his instrument rather then looking at Red Arrow.

Red found himself silently grateful. He took the moment to control his features and slip on his mask, putting in the special earplugs Piper gave him in the process.

The doors to the elevator slid open and a vibration at his back told Red that Piper was sending his music out in front of them. Red bent forward to clear Piper's line of fire and started running. In his head, blueprints flickered through his thoughts as he tried to keep track of how long they had and what direction they were headed.

There was a security door around the next corner. Red took an extra step to dodge a woman who was swaying on her feet, probably due to whatever Piper was doing. His right hand came up and back in a move practiced hundreds of thousands of times, he selected an arrow, put it to the string and drew back. He hated wasting the acid arrow, especially since it would be hard to replace, but without Livewire there would be two locked doors between them and the lab they were aiming for.

The arrow hit the lock five seconds before he hit the door with his shoulder. Piper had fallen behind by a few steps still casting out the strange music. Red Arrow was grateful for the earplugs as they passed two more people slumped against the walls, but if Piper could have possibly run a bit faster...

The second door took up precious seconds since it swung toward them with a security guard right behind it. Luckily that also meant Red wouldn't have to waste another acid arrow, instead just taking aim at the man with a pair of powerful kicks. Piper swerved around him without breaking stride, letting Red follow past the second hurdle. The last door blocking their path was a flimsy thing with only a rudimentary key code lock. More people had noticed them now, and their time seemed to have run out because the door behind them feebly tried to go into lockdown despite the shattered lock. Heads popped out of doorways, asking confused questions only to stagger and bring a hand to their heads.

In front of Red, Piper saw the door and sidestepped. It gave Red Arrow the clear shot he needed. This time it was an electric arrow, which he released. It connected, sending a field of power over the lock and key pad, shorting out both.

The two men hit the door in sequence. Red Arrow was taking in the room the moment he cleared the last obstacle. The buzzing in the air caught him off guard, but it wasn't enough to throw off his aim.

Apart from that it looked like their luck was beginning to turn. The machine was right there, he recognized it from the schematics, and the only people there to stop them were two teenagers. One skinny pale blond with crooked glasses whose attire and attitude screamed nerd, and one African American with dreadlocks and welding goggles over his eyes. They might even have been the same interns who had ordered the pizzas. The black kid pushed his goggles up, stepping away from the machine. The SLIDE teleporter system sat there on the table, the props for the energy field currently closed down and just lying there next to the device.

Maybe they would pull this off after all.

 


	17. Chapter 17

Soundproofing was a definite advantage when it meant that you could blast your music in the lab without complaints from your neighboring scientists, and after three hours of fine tuning the teleporter's relocation scale vectors Vergil needed the mind-numbing influence to stay sane. He would have loved to give the teleporter a break and go patrol as Static for a while but he had already dumped enough of the work on Richie; plus, Pizza was already on the way.

When a red glaze changed the color of the screen he had been staring at, Vergil was finally distracted enough to look up. The alarms had come on. He could only tell because of the lights since the boom box they had dragged in was so far managing to block the sound of any siren. That was a good sign, if the emergency had required an evacuation the power to non-essential systems would have been cut. Going into lockdown was annoying but at least they got to keep working. It did mean no pizza, though.

Vergil glanced over at Richie who shrugged. He didn't have any better idea of what was going on.

Vergil felt the electrical discharge even from across the room. He was spinning towards the door even as the two masked figures came through at a half run. One was wearing green, the other red. The green one was hooded and held some kind of horn like it was a weapon while the red one was clearly in modified body armor with a bow drawn taught in a position where it could hit either of them easily.

Fuck.

Vergil recognized the red one from the Lord's files. Red arrow was considered one of the most dangerous anti-lord beta level threats. The only reason the Lords hadn't actively hunted him down, and the only reason he wasn't classified higher, was because he didn't actually have any powers. In Static's book that made him super-crazy-dangerous. No one sane would try to take on the Lords with nothing but a weapon that dated back over two centuries. Come to that no one sane would try to break into STAR labs with nothing but that same weapon. And the other guy was a total wild card. This was in no way a good situation.

He turned to Richie, who met his eyes. They were both thinking the same thing, but the trick was how to pull it off. Static's identity was still secret and he didn't think revealing himself to at least one person on the Lord's most wanted list, possibly two, was any sort of good idea.

They needed a plan.

Richie was still looking at him. He said one word which Vergil didn't so much hear as read off his lips given the still blasting music.

"Panic?"

Vergil nodded, Richie had the right idea.

"Panic."

Richie threw his hands in the air, screamed loud enough to be heard over both the alarm and the music and proceeded to panic in as loud and unpredictable a fashion as possible. He started to run towards a corner of the room where there was a window he might have used to escape, then turned at right angles to flip over a table, picking up a rack of plastic beakers and test tubes in the process. He said something unintelligible and started throwing them at the intruders. Vergil took the better part of valor and ducked under a desk, crawling towards the back of the room where his backpack was sitting on a chair.

The intruders moved without a word or at least none that Static could hear, and he realized that he could hear at least a little. One of them must have turned off the boom box, or maybe one of Richie's missiles had hit it. The alarm was still blaring and music was coming from somewhere, possibly the guy in green, so the room was still deafening, but over the top he could hear Richie quoting Monty Python and forcing the intruders to focus on him.

Static snagged his bag and kept going. There was a decontamination shower at the back of all the labs and this one happened to have a window. By now he was adept at quick changes and it took him only seconds to get in uniform and push the window open. He opened his flight disk and launched himself into the air, only to loop around for the windows that Richie had dived for just minutes before.

One bolt of electricity sent the window frames jangling to the point of bursting open. Static came through the window in a crouch, his fists holding enough ball-lightning between them to power a city block. The alarm was still blaring but it was more distant now and the room was surprisingly empty. No not empty, Richie was slumped against the table he had turned over, his eyes glazed, his limbs bonelessly limp.

Static stumbled off the flight disk in his haste to get to his friend. He grabbed Richie's shoulder shaking him lightly while waving a hand in front of his eyes. No response. Damn, he didn't have time to both help Richie and chase after the bad guys. He moved his hand from shoulder to neck, checking for a pulse. He honestly didn't mean to send the shock through his friend, but it was hard to let go of that much energy without a little overflow.

Richie jumped in place and started blinking rapidly. "Ahh, what the, I'm back." His eyes focused and he met Static's eyes through the cheap mask. "Go, I'm fine. Some kind of hypnosis from the green guy, the music I think. What are you still doing here? Go."

"You sure you're alright?"

"I'll be fine. Now go, they took the project."

That got Static on his feet. An untethered, untested teleportation system in the hands of someone like Red Arrow was not good. He was going to have hell to pay if he didn't fix this.

He was out the window again in a moment and shooting up. He didn't know about Red Arrow's partner but Arrow at least couldn't fly. That meant they had to go through the building and even if it wasn't locked down that would take a few minutes. His eyes danced between the different exits they could take, but even so he nearly missed them.

He was expecting a quick exit across the parking lot to the front gate or maybe a get-away car in the back lot instead the thieves ignored the parking lot and the main gate in favor of bursting out of the underground parking in what had to be a stolen car. The black jeep took a sharp turn, two wheels momentarily rising off the pavement as it rocketed for the delivery entrance.

The delivery entrance was more secure then the front since it didn't have to look pretty. The sliding gate had been closed and sealed when the alarms went off but that apparently wasn't a problem since Red Arrow was leaning out of the passenger side window with weapon drawn. The arrow shot out in front of the car triggering an explosion that the car drove straight through. Scattering gate fragments in its wake the jeep swerved onto the road and took on a burst of speed.

Static cursed and shot out after them, swooping in low so he wouldn't lose them in the traffic.

Rush hour was mostly over by that point, with only a few stragglers left to create traffic. Red Arrow ducked back inside the cab Static took the opportunity to take a shot at the car. A patch of asphalt melted as the jeep swerved to the left and picked up speed.

The thieves raced through an intersection just as the light turned causing several other cars to skid to a stop. Static swerved around the traffic lights and managed to get his eyes back on the jeep just in time for an arrow to be sent his way. He jerked to one side and managed to dodge the projectile. A second arrow followed the first and a third. It became a game to get closer with each dodge while still keeping track of where the jeep was headed and the obstacles that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Static managed to get close enough to grab the roof rack as they turned onto 17th and skirted the edge of downtown. He clung on; letting the flying disk hover a foot off the ground like a skateboard. This close he could see the thieves through the back windshield and hear them over the rush of the wind.

The green thief was driving; he met Static's eyes in the rearview mirror. Static had only a second of warning before the car jerked to the left, slipping between oncoming traffic. They dodged around a bus before jumping onto the curb and crossing a park to end up fishtailing onto a one way street going the wrong direction.

Static had magnetized himself to the back of the car, but he was fairly certain he was going to throw up or they were going to hit someone if this went on much longer. He slapped on hand down flat on the roof of the car using his powers to reach for the frame. When he had it he let go of the roof rack with his other hand and momentarily wobbled as the driver dodged oncoming traffic. Then he was able to grab onto the metal frame of a nearby building. He magnetized the two together and it was like hooking a chain through the jeeps back bumper. The car's back end came up off the ground taking Static with it as the whole of them came to an abrupt stop. Static strained to maintain the connection as the car bounced back to the ground and the driver started swerving back and forth like a fish on a line.

"I've got him." Someone from inside the car said.

Static managed to catch sight of movement inside the passenger side of the car and instinct more than reason told him to move. He wasn't fast enough. Glass burst towards him in a shower as the arrow went straight through the back window of the jeep and into his right side.

Pain broke through his concentration, briefly becoming his whole world. The jeep, suddenly released from the constraints he had wrapped around it, carved skid marks into the road as it leapt into motion. A quick fishtail and it turned down a side street. Static pulled himself together in time to see the tail lights vanish around the corner.

He had to get after them, had to catch them, but blood was now staining his costume and he needed a recharge before long. He wasn't at his limits yet but too much longer and he would find them the hard way.

Static forced himself into the air, one hand gripping the arrow still half way through him while the other reached for his Lord issued communicator.

"This is Static, connect me to Green Lantern, I'm requesting backup."

Red Arrow took aim through the back windshield of the car and let loose. Piper's foot was already pressed to the floor and suddenly they were shooting forward. Red was thrown towards the back of the car and had to grab his seat to steady himself. Somewhere along the line he had lost his seatbelt, and he was halfway in the back seat before he could look up. Static was briefly visible hovering behind them. The arrow was lodged in his side just below his armpit, and one hand was clutching it. His other hand was up by his head, than Piper twisted the wheel and took them down a side street.

Again Red Arrow was thrown into the side of the car. "Hey, watch the driving."

"Stop moving around so much, then or hit him or something." Piper tapped the break and twisted the wheel again.

This time Red Arrow was able to brace himself. "I did hit him. He didn't go down."

"Then hit him again."

"Trust me, that was the plan." Red Arrow lodged his feet into the foot well so he could brace his bow and aim through the shattered back window.

Static came out of the sky, dropping down on them from nearly straight overhead. Red managed to call out a warning in time for Piper to dodge around an oncoming truck and jump the curb into a Walmart parking lot.

Pedestrians went screaming for their lives. Piper spun into a tight 180 that left skid-marks on the pavement and had Static pull some kind of skateboard move off the nearest car in order to follow. Red let off a pair of shots to make sure he kept his distance. Piper zigzagged from one end of the parking-lot to the other with Static as close as he could get.

"We need a distraction." Piper threw them spontaneously into reverse sliding straight under Static before he could do a thing about it.

"Well, I'm open to suggestions." Red called back his quiver was half empty by that point, but Static seemed to be slowing down.

"Blow something up!"

"There are civilians here."

"Exactly!"

Red Arrow spun around, clambering back into the front seat to keep Static in sight. "I'm not going to put civilians in danger just to save my own hide."

Piper jerked at the wheel sending the car over another curb, past four lanes of traffic that was mercifully stopped at a light, and swerved into an exit lane for a shopping mall, thankfully avoiding yet another curb.

Piper found a lane at the back of the lot that was clear cars. "Hold the wheel."

"What?" Red Arrow scrambled to obey before they hit something.

It was Piper's turn to lean out the window. With his left hand he pulled some kind of whistle from a breast pocket. Red couldn't hear anything, but then he was still wearing the earplugs Piper had let him borrow. Then glass started shattering in a cascading wave out from their position. In a parking lot full of cars glass was suddenly flying in every direction, and over the shattering screams started to fill the air. Piper slid back into the cab, claiming the wheel again with Red looking on, a mixture of shock and growing anger on his face.

Piper focused on his mirrors. Static had fallen back but he hadn't broken off yet. Twisting the wheel Piper jumped one final curb, spun them around and stepped on the gas. He dodged two other cars before finding the highway entrance ramp. Pulling into the fast lane he wove between any cars who weren't going fast enough for him. Static didn't follow.

Three minutes later when silence had filled the cab for twenty miles, Red let his anger out. "What the fuck was that?!"

"That was the only way we were going to get him off our tail."

"No."

"Yes." Piper cut him off. "It was. Do you really think anything less than putting innocent lives at risk would have gotten rid of him? He had to be faced with a bigger disaster then us if he was going to break off. It's the only way short of putting the hero down."

"They weren't a part of this." Red wanted to punch Piper and if the other man hadn't been driving he probably would have.

Piper gave a small shake of his head. "They were there, that's enough to get them involved." Red Arrow opened his mouth to protest but Piper spoke over him. "You can't honestly believe people weren't going to get hurt. You think we didn't cause a dozen traffic accidents just trying to get away? Why do you think I wanted to drive? You would have never managed to get us out of there. And in case you plan on pinning it all on me consider what happened to all those arrows that he managed to dodge."

Red hated it but Piper was right, except: "We're the ones who are trying to fix things. I'm not going to have any of that end justifies the means crap."

Piper let out a hard laugh. "You're such a hero." He took his eyes off the road and fixed Red Arrow with his gaze. "That would have never distracted one of the Lords. We only got away because Static is still thinking like you are."

They drove for a few dozen more miles putting the city as far behind them as they could, eventually stopping at an empty rest stop. The car was silent the whole time. Since they had boosted the jeep Piper couldn't hand the keys over but he made his intentions clear as he walked away.

Red Arrow changed out of his costume, and made a few calls from the pay phone. Their equipment and the car he had driven into Decota would be picked up and sent back to their respective owners.

Roy got off the highway at the next opportunity, cutting through a rural town where he swapped out the jeep's license plate and filled up the tank. From there he took to the back roads. There was no way he could get back to Star City by the normal routes. He had to lay low for a while which meant finding a safe place in the middle of nowhere.

Four miles later he passed a road sign: Blue Valley, 46 miles.

It was eleven at night before Dick arrived at the Central City airport. And it took another half hour for them to get his motorcycle out of the plane's hold. He could have done it in five minutes but he was still playing the rich boy rather than the superhero. Once he had his bike that was going to change.

As midnight rolled past Nightwing sped through the streets of Central towards the college district. The night was surprisingly quiet. Granted, his point of view might be a little off. He was used to Gotham and Bludhaven where it was never quiet no matter what time of night or what hero may be lurking nearby. Add to that a week in LA where the party circuit didn't end until everyone was passed out and yes he might have a slightly skewed perspective. Still, the gem cities had at least that big a population, and in some ways a worse reputation. There should be some shady types around. But there weren't even any drunks disturbing the peace or kids going for a joyride. It wasn't like the whole city was on lockdown. There were people, but they were all clearly making their way home from a late meeting or a romantic dinner. Over the years Nightwing had been trained to spot anything criminal and the lack thereof was almost disturbing.

Parking his bike out of sight Nightwing entered the campus grounds and quickly scaled the wall of one of the dorms to Wally's room. The speedster didn't bother locking his third floor window, and even if he had the lock would have been easy enough to bypass. He kept his movements muffled as he slipped through the window but didn't bother with complete silence. He'd been sneaking into his friend's room since they were both sidekicks and Wally would probably flip on the lights any second.

Nightwing's eyes adjusted to the slightly darker interior of the room and still no movement. He only had to lean over to turn on the bedside lamp. Wally wasn't asleep, he wasn't there at all, and it only took a quick look to determine he hadn't been there in the last few days. He switched the lamp off again and left the way he had come in.

If Wally wasn't at the college then the next place to look would be his aunt's house. Nightwing kicked his motorcycle into life and headed in that direction. He didn't have an explanation for it but Dick felt uneasy. Partially he knew it was the lack of obvious criminal activities, but there had been something about the way Wally's rooms had just been abandoned like that.

The feeling didn't go away when Nightwing slowed in front of the Allen household. The windows were dark but it was a crazy hour of the morning, nothing odd there. Swinging open the side gate Nightwing walked his motorcycle around to the back. He could smell charcoal and charred meat and cut grass. The wind-chimes on the corner of the roof chimed softly. The big oak tree in the corner of the yard creaked, its leaves shushing each other. Underneath it all something metallic picked at his nose while the sound of air slid over broken glass tugging at curtains and whispering in the dark.

Dick had been to enough crime scenes to recognize one, even in the dark.

He took a moment to lean his bike against the side of the house, then flipped on the night vision in his mask and moved forward with all the caution that had been drilled into him during years of being Batman's partner.

Whatever had happened, had happened quickly. The yard was well trodden but the only signs of trouble were a charred patch of soil under the oak and some damage to the side of the house on the west side of the patio. That was where the broken window was, along with a radiation signature that his mask identified as magic. It looked like whoever had been attacked had managed to get off one quick shot before they were taken down with the others. There were at least 10 spots where people had been taken down without warning. One person had managed to try to run, but they hadn't gotten more than 10 steps before they fell.

The part of him that was Dick Grayson wanted to run through the house screaming for his friend, but that part was carefully packaged away under layers of professional detachment and measured calm.

When he had taken evidence from the yard and was certain it couldn't tell him anything else, he moved on to the house. No one had bothered to turn on the lights or close the windows as the summer afternoon turned into evening. The night had brought a chill to the empty building, and even if the air was fresh without the smell of damp or anything more ominous, the building had a sense of unreality about it.

In the kitchen a half made salad sat on the counter waiting for the tomatoes that sat in a bowl in the sink. A two-liter of soda waited next to a pitcher that now held only water rather than the ice it might have been filled with hours before. More paper plates and napkins sat waiting for someone out back to need them. The next round of burgers had long since defrosted and now attracted a number of flies and the beginnings of a trail of ants.

In the living room the TV was glaringly bright with the message "Recording finished. Do you want to save this show?" in white on black letters. Iris's big tuxedo tomcat raised its head from where it sat tucked into corner of the couch, its ears flicking forward hopefully.

Nightwing moved on to Linda's office. The rest of the house appeared untouched, as if the people had just up and walked out, but not there. Someone had gone through Iris's papers. They had done it professionally, but they had been in a hurry. Her computer was missing and the filing cabinets beside her desk had been emptied. The room hadn't been torn apart; it had simply been emptied of everything that might be useful.

Nightwing wandered back into the den considering his options.

He had no idea where Wally was; if he had been here when everything had gone down or not. Somehow Nightwing didn't think anyone who had been there would be available to tell him what went down. That meant no witnesses and close to no evidence. He could follow up on this but he was already in the middle of an investigation on the Rogues. There was something here but he didn't know what how important it might be.

Nightwing pulled out a pre-paid cell phone from his belt and dialed three numbers.

"911 please state your emergency."

"Yes, umm, My name is Dick Grayson. I need to report a robbery." Nightwing kept his voice uncertain without going into fear.

"Alright Mr. Grayson, what is your location? Are the thieves still there?"

"Oh no, no one's here. I'm at 14 Linnwood Drive, there was supposed to be a party, but I got in late and the place is like the twilight zone. I think someone took the computer and one of the back windows is smashed. It's not my place or anything so I'm not sure if anything else is gone."

The voice on the other end of the line was quiet for a minute. When it returned the tone had changed though over the phone Nightwing couldn't easily identify it.

"Mr. Grayson it looks like there may already be a case open, can you come in to the station and give a statement? I can have a squad car there to pick you up in ten minutes."

"What, right now? It's like three in the morning, I mean, I guess I can. I've got a car though…" he trailed off. If they pushed the escort then something was definitely up.

The voice hesitated. "The sooner the better, Mr. Grayson. Do you need the address?"

"Umm, sure." This time he didn't have to fake the uncertainty in his voice. He wasn't sure what to expect with these people; he didn't know if they were being more subtle then he was used to or simply being honest. Assuming everyone was lying was always so much easier.

The voice gave him directions and he rang off. He could have just run then but he had given his name. It would have been strange not to plus it would help to get him off any list of suspects if they did open a case. Being a friend he had a reason to be there, but now… investigating the Rogues would have to wait until morning in any case. He took a minute to change into Dick Grayson then made a few cosmetic changes to his motorcycle, and turned towards the station.

Given that it was almost four in the morning the station was remarkably active. If he had been driving a car it would have been hard to find a parking spot, and when he got inside men in uniforms and suits alike were talking loudly and rushing around with purpose. Dick had to dodge clerks and two people carrying trays of coffee just to get to the front desk. The middle aged blond woman behind the desk was on the phone but she held up a hand to show she had seen him and would be with him in a minute.

One minute turned into four before she put the phone down and looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

"Umm, Hi. There was a break in at my friend's place and when I called 911 they said I should come in."

The woman looked skeptical. "When was this?"

"I think the break in happened this afternoon but I called about half an hour ago. I got in kind of late." He explained with a shrug.

She made a few notes on a handy pad of paper. "And what is your friend's address?"

When he gave it to her he suddenly had her full attention. "I see. Thank you for coming in. Peter," she waved over a young officer, "please take this gentleman to waiting room two." She turned back to Dick. "I'll inform the officer in charge that you're here."

Dick had little choice but to follow the young officer then.

Waiting room two was an interrogation room. It didn't look like one. No one way mirror or straight backed chairs on either side of a sturdy table. Instead there was a small couch, a coffee table with magazines and a threadbare end chair next to a water cooler. It was designed to put someone at ease, hell when it wasn't being used it probably doubled as a break room, but it was hard to miss the click of the lock or the cameras in the corners of the ceiling.

Dick again considered getting out of there. Pick the simple lock, blend into the hubbub and slip out before anyone realized. Except he had come this far and now they had him on camera. He was also more than a little curious about what was going on. He settled down onto the couch, glanced through the magazine selection, then pulled out his phone instead. He shot a quick email to Oracle outlining the situation then settled in to a game of Angry Birds.

He had gone through nine levels before the door opened. The figure that stood there instantly became the center of Dick's focus as no other person in the world could manage.

Batman stepped into the room.

Static had continued the case after calling for assistance. He had no idea if Green Lantern was even on the planet let alone if he could get there in time to help. Even if he wasn't though, the Lords would want to know about this, one way or the other.

Then one of the thieves had set off some kind of explosion in that parking lot. Glass was everywhere and the blast had been big enough that even the people who had managed to run back towards the mall had been hit. The jeep squealed off and for a minute he considered following but the cries of pain hit deep and he knew he had to help.

Not that there was much he could do. Glass was non-conductive so he couldn't do much about the injuries and there had been half a dozen 911 calls before he could even make up his mind to stay. Instead he set up a perimeter and cleared the area as best he could, reassuring people with his presence.

Green Lantern had dropped out of the sky just as the first ambulance had arrived. He created a few helpful constructs offhand and turned to Static. Forty feet above the accident Static gave his report on what had happened leaving nothing out.

"You let them go." Green Lantern was looking out over towards the highway in the direction Red Arrow and his partner had disappeared.

"Well, kind of."

"I understand your concern for these people, Static, but Red Arrow and the other resistance members are extremely dangerous, and if they can get your teleporter working they'll be even more so."

"They can't make it work without a power source." Static interrupted but GL held up a hand.

"Letting them escape will cost more lives than this one accident." Lantern's expression was hard and Static looked away.

"I'm sorry. I know I made the wrong call, but I was almost out of juice, and I did manage to magnetize the car. Once I get a recharge I can find them again or their car at least."

Green Lantern settled back in the air, studying the younger hero. "You sure?"

Static shrugged. Being criticized by his own personal idol in the hero department made him nervous as hell but this was something he had been practicing. Identifying magnetic fields and tracing their signature wasn't easy but it was right up his alley. "Yeah, I can find them, well, the car. I can find the car."

"Alright kid let's give it a shot."


	18. Chapter 18

Zattanna hadn't expected to be so thoroughly dragged into things at Cadmus, but at the end of the first week it felt like a month had passed.

She had become an instant celebrity inside the compound. Not that she wasn't used to that, but in Vegas a third of the population could claim fame of one kind or another. On her second day Hector had ambushed her while crossing the central square and she had been roped into giving a lesson after lunch. Except then a young woman with an Indian look about her had asked if she really was that Zattanna and did she know anything about plainer divination because they needed a guest lecturer on Tuesday. Before Zattanna could explain that divination wasn't her thing the stuffed bear had come bursting out a window and roared. It was surprisingly intimidating considering the teddy bear was only about two feet tall. She had of course been roped into catching the thing since the young girl who had cast the 'come to life' spell didn't know the reversal.

She spent the next four hours putting defense wards up around her rooms. Then she went through her books trying to determine what kind of charm would work best to ward off so much random untargeted energy.

By the time all that was done it was almost five and she was starving, having skipped lunch some hours earlier. Since she didn't have any groceries yet she had gone down to the closest of the dining areas, which was where Hector found her. He forgave her for skipping out on the lesson but in the course of the conversation her new charm came up and that got a group at the next table interested.

Before Zee realized what was happening she had agreed to show the whole table how to make them and had five more students for her teleportation class the following morning. When she arrived at the practice room Hector had reserved the next morning it wasn't six people who were waiting for her it was 19.

And that seemed to be the theme for the week. Somehow she would get roped into something and at the time it would seem reasonable, until she got there and it was so much more then she had expected. One transport spell class had turned into a session three times a week with lectures and workshops on making charms and the basic protection, and binding spells that should have been routine. It was exhausting and if Zee hadn't already been used to a fast paced lifestyle it would have laid her out each night.

Then on Saturday afternoon her things had finally arrived from her apartment in Vegas, and she had grasped onto the excuse with a desperation even she was surprised at. Zee spent a few hours casually unpacking then crept out as the sun was touching the horizon.

The first level of glamor that she wove around herself with a whisper, was at most a "don't notice me" spell. It was a quiet thing that was as much about body language and expression as cosmic energy. She didn't add a full invisibility layer until she reached building nine.

The plan was to go through the files and see if she could dig up anything for Oracle, maybe poke around the buildings she hadn't explored yet. She didn't think she'd find anything but it would probably give her a better idea of where to look.

She had chosen building nine because it was at the edge of things without being set apart. No one seemed to have classes or anything there and the people who did come and go had an administrative feel about them, all paper and bureaucracy.

Zee vanished somewhere between the front doors and the elevator.

When Hector had mentioned that no one knew transport spells, she had been a bit suspicious but since then she had realized he was right. And if no one knew transport spells then no one would know how to block them. Invisible and inaudible she pressed the button for the elevator. It might have looked strange if the elevator had actually gone anywhere but all she needed was a look at the buttons. According to the panel there were four floors above ground, which she already knew, and hello there, three basement levels.

Estimating the distance between ceiling and floor and adding in extra safeguards to make sure she didn't end up inside a wall or the ground, she whispered the spell under her breath.

"Gniog nwod."

The world folded around her, then unfolded leaving her standing outside the elevator three floors down. No alarms went off and Zee quickly confirmed her invisibility spell was still in place.

Zattanna found herself in a steel-walled corridor that immediately branched out in three directions.

Holding up multiple spells at once was a draining effort but Zee decided to chance one more spell. this particular one, was something she had figured out when she first came to Vegas. Back then she had been desperate and on the run after her father died. She hadn't yet figured out a system and far too many people had been after her; so she had found a way to tip the odds.

"Kcul eb a ydal." she felt a slight tug to her right and let the random instinct guide her through a maze of passages and down deeper into the earth. It quickly became clear that the complex below ground was much larger than the building above it, and at a guess she would have said none of the students living above had any idea it existed.

She followed the random impulses of her spell, slipping into side rooms to hide and dodging down corridors that looked exactly like all the others. she didn't worry about getting out. Even if she couldn't remember the way back she could just teleport directly back to her rooms. Then she came to the blast doors and she knew that whatever they were hiding, she had found it.

She released the luck spell, letting her mind rest a bit while still keeping up the invisibility spell. Chances were she could teleport to the other side of the door, but she didn't know how thick it was and that was a spell she had been throwing around too much as it was. The palm-scanner, retina-scanner and keypad made it fairly clear that there was some serious security in place. To just force the door open with magic would probably set off all kinds of alarms.

Zee mentally rifled through her standard set of tricks, trying to find one that could be adapted to this situation. There was one that might work, at least in part. At one point in her standard Vegas act she transformed herself into a white tiger. It was only an illusion—not actual transformation—but it was a very good illusion. Good enough to fool the scanners. Except she didn't know who to transform into and she still didn't have the code. Keeping up the invisibility was also starting to give her a headache.

Briefly she considered turning back and returning some other evening with the spells she would need prepared but she didn't know when she would get another chance. She was so close. Leaving now would probably be the right thing to do but damn it her curiosity had been fully hooked now. She couldn't just walk away without a little peek.

With a released breath Zee let go of most of the invisibility spell. The spell was now little more than camouflage that hid her from the cameras. She settled into a cross-legged position on the floor. To get the code she was going to have to pull out a trick she hadn't used in a while and even limiting the range it was going to take some effort.

Settling into a light trance she went over the spell in her mind, making sure she remembered all of it. Her ghost spell was something she had figured out a few years back for Halloween. It didn't actually summon the dead, although it certainly looked like it. Instead it replayed echoes of what a place remembered from hours or days before. The fact that the ghosts didn't show up on camera had only made the trick better at the time, and it certainly was convenient at the moment.

Zattanna outlined the space directly in front of the keypad and activated the spell. "Tsap nruter." She rolled back through time as if watching a shadowy copy of the world on rewind. For the first several minutes the area she had outlined stayed blank. Eventually though, a figure appeared in her circle.

The woman looked to be in her mid to late thirties, but she had managed to stay fit. She was wrapped up in a white lab coat with her auburn hair cut into a sensible bob, and a datapad tucked under one arm. Zee memorized the look and feel of her as well as the numbers she typed in. The woman stepped out of the circle of magic and vanished.

Releasing the spell, Zee stood. She activated her illusion and where there had been empty corridor, the young doctor stood. She moved to the keypad with confidence, letting it scan her and typing in the code as prompted. A green light flashed and the doors started to open.

For a moment she had to steady herself against a wall. She was used to doing plenty of magic at once, but most of what she did in her shows were quick one shot spells, not these longer term affairs. She had enough in her to get out of there but if there were any more obstacles she would have to leave empty handed.

She managed to hold onto her disguise as she slipped through the doors, only to nearly lose it to shock as Cadmus's secret stared her in the face.

She found herself at the end of a long two tiered room. White walled, glass doored cells lined the hall, each one holding a man or a monster, or sometimes both at once.

The first room to her right held a man in a black body suit with a stripe of yellow lightning across the front. His black hair was slicked back and his skin, where it could be seen, was tanned to leather. his eyes were sharp and dark, like volcanic glass. He was bound hand and foot with chains that were covered in runes, and the gag that bound his mouth forced his jaw open, his mouth clamped still.

The next room held a creature that was only mostly humanoid. It was a bleached white with splotches that looked purple under the black-light. It didn't seem to have a face and it moved with a bone structure that was definitely wasn't human.

In the next cell was a grey monster of a man. His arms wrapped with chains that he was fighting at every moment. His mouth had been sewn shut, but even through the stitches she could hear the moans and raging howls. His clothes were mud streaked and raged, his eyes bloodshot and full of cataracts, while his hands were calloused with broken yellow nails. Worst of all she could feel no soul within him, not even one as alien as the creature in the previous cell.

She rushed on, and for a moment she though the next prisoner was less terrible; then she saw his eyes. This prisoner was a just a man. His features were blocky, his black hair hung long and ragged, clearly unwashed. His clothes were simple and in truth, barely adequate. He was chained with his limbs spread so he didn't have any leverage, and there was a strange spiked crown circling his brow. His eyes were a terrible ice blue, and spoke of the most intelligence she had yet seen among the prisoners.

"Someone new, how lovely." the man said. His tone spoke of disinterest but his eyes remained fixed on her.

Zee glanced back at the entrance. She still had her illusion up, there shouldn't have been any way for him to tell she wasn't who she appeared to be.

Except her actions of course...

The real doctor wouldn't have been surprised at what she found behind door number one. Well he still wouldn't know who she was, just that she wasn't who she seemed to be.

"And what do I call you?" She should really just leave but maybe if she kept him talking she could convince him not to give her away. Plus who knew what he really was, or what he had done to earn a place among these monsters. He could have been a demon in human form or some outer god, who had shown up looking to have some fun at the world's expense. If that was the case then she wanted to know about it.

He paused as if he had to think about it to remember his own name. That wasn't a good sign; a lot of things drew power from names.

"Savage." he said at last. "I was once known as Vandal Savage."

Ok, maybe not a demon, or at least not one she had ever heard of.

"What is this place Mr. Savage? How did you end up here?"

"You really are new aren't you? Tell me, what does it look like this place is?"

"A Prison." Zee's voice was small. A part of her was really hoping she was wrong.

He grinned and his eyes took on a glint of mad silver. "Good, now if I'm going to answer any more questions you're going to have to answer a few of mine: what is th-" his words were cut off as the crown burst to life locking his jaw shut with electricity and making his eyes roll back in his head. He slumped in his bindings.

Zee watched in silent horror as the man went still, then after a minute began to stir once again. His eyes blinked open and slowly fixed on her.

"Oh, and who might you be?"

The question sent a shiver down her spine. "No one important. I was just leaving." if her words shook slightly then no one could really blame her.

* * *

Roy abandoned the jeep and walked the last block. The building was old and slightly run down but sturdy. Roy had never had the opportunity to visit this particular hiding spot of the resistance. It was off the map, mostly for good reason. Most people couldn't deal with the owner for more then an hour at a time. But Roy had made it a point to memorize all the safe-houses he was in charge of and this one had been the closest. He settled one hand against the cold concrete of the wall and followed it around to the small back exit.

A single dirty bulb was the only illumination for the cigarette littered pavement and the heavy wood of the fire door. The lock was cheap but it also had more then a little rust. Plus the door had swollen from the rain that afternoon and was practically glued into its frame. If the front door hadn't been in such clear sight of the road he would have just abandoned the task. Nearly a quarter hour later he had abandoned the quiet approach and was shoving his shoulder into the door.

When he finally got the thing open he was faced with a large dark room and the edge of a treadmill. No wonder the door had been stuck, if there was equipment in front of it that meant no one must have used it in ages.

He slipped around the machine, shutting the door behind him and taking a minute to let his eyes get used to the dark. Slowly the forms of exercise equipment and training mats picked themselves out of the gloom. Roy let out a breath. It felt like he had been looking over his shoulder since before he and Piper had split ways. Even given that it was almost midnight a part of him had been waiting for someone to catch him and ask what the hell he was doing. The bow and quiver he still carried would have been a bit hard to explain to the average police officer, not to mention the contraption in his bag. He needed to talk to the local resistance members. Then he would get settled, maybe even get a few hours sleep, and then he'd take a look at the teleporter and get out of there one way or another. He found showers in the dressing room and took advantage while he had the chance.

The pipes were old and the water pressure was terrible but in a way that saved him. The sound of the water failed to mask a door opening and closing, bringing the sound of a conversation to bounce off the old tiles.

Roy eased the water off, slipping to one side and grabbing his bow. He held one arrow against the string, then grabbed another two and held them between his teeth while trying to tie a towel around his waist one-handed. The conversation had moved past the doorway to the men's locker and Roy was silently thankful for the caution that had made him leave the lights off. A moment later the voices changed modulation, echoing as their owners passed into the larger room. Lights were switched on; Roy could see them under the door. He knew everything he had brought was safely tucked away in his bag, but there was a chance he had moved some piece of equipment in the dark and it would be noticed.

What were these people doing here after midnight anyway? From all the reports he had read Blue Valley was an in bed by eight kind of town. Nothing had ever happened there to make it worth anyone's attention. Logical deduction brought the identities of the new arrivals down to two possibilities: there was the chance that he had somehow been followed in which case he was going to have to fight his way out, possibly without pants, or there was the much more preferable option of the voices belonging to the owner of the gym, and therefore an ally.

God, he hoped it was the latter. Roy really didn't want to deal with another fight today.

Roy eased the door to the locker room open, trying to slip through without letting it squeak. Damn these old buildings and how nothing was ever quiet. The full lights in the main room were still off, but the hanging lights over the boxing ring had were on and swung lazily over the two sparring figures. It wasn't a fight any normal boxing ring would see.

The first figure was dressed all in a dusty black, from the ears on his cowl to the old combat boots. Only the worn white tape around his wrists stood out. The other figure was a picture in contrasts. A tight blue top with a white star across the chest was matched with blue workout shorts and a red belt. Her blond hair was tied back and a blue mask covered the upper half of her face. Her red boots matched her gloves and the golden hooked staff finished off the outfit. They were fighting with an anything goes style that had the old man throwing punches at frightening speed and the girl kicking and spinning and flying around the ring with a grace that made her seem weightless.

The man was Wildcat a loyal member of the resistance—and thank God for that small favor—but Roy didn't recognize the girl. She was young for one thing, maybe sixteen or seventeen which made her too young to have been active before the Lords' takeover. Roy knew all of that group in any case. Still there was something about that staff that pricked at his memory. He let his mind sift through where he might have seen it before while trying to decide what to do next. If it had just been Ted out there he would have announced himself at once, and he was fairly certain he could take the girl if it came to it. But having her as an unknown made him hesitate.

Before Roy could decide what to do the girl glanced in his direction. She must have seen him even hidden in the dark as he was, because she froze in shock and was suddenly blushing a violent red. Ted stepped forward and knocked her off her feat without hesitation.

"Eyes on the prize girl. You know better then that." Ted said before bothering to offer her a hand up.

"But he. That guy … pants?" the last word came out as more of a squeak then a protest as the girl got to her feet carefully looking about ten feet to Roy's right and still noticeably blushing.

Wildcat turned and saw Roy for the first time, bow in hand, arrows still in his teeth and towel around his waist. The older man laughed "Well, I guess that explains the distraction. That you Red?"

"It's me. I need a safe-house for a while. That room over the office still open?"

Wildcat nodded. "It can be." he jumped out of the ring and walked over to Roy fiddling with the tape on his wrists as he went. "Anyone on your tail I should know about?"

"Not that I'm aware of, but I had to get out of there in a bit of a hurry. I didn't have much time to cover my tracks."

Wildcat nodded again. "Alright, you get settled. I'll throw some sheets on the old cot and you can stay for the time being." he turned looking over his shoulder at the girl. "Looks like practice is over for tonight. Make sure you stretch out before you head home."

She nodded. "Got it."

Roy didn't move to relax quite yet. "Who is the girl?"

"Who, Stargirl?" Wildcat grinned. "She's my new trainee. She's got some promise. She moves well, you probably saw that much. She still needs to learn how to throw a decent punch though. When she's using that staff of hers she'd too damn light to do any damage."

"I heard that." Stargirl called from where she was now climbing out of the boxing ring.

"You were meant to." Wildcat was still grinning but it faded slightly as he turned back to Roy. "Don't worry. She hasn't really gotten in the ring yet but if she's on a side it's ours." He clapped Roy on the shoulder and walked past him towards the office.

* * *

Stargirl watched as the man turned back to the locker rooms. God he had been ripped, like James Bond mission impossible super spy level ripped. And they way he had those arrows in his teeth...that alone would fuel her fantasies for a good long while. She sat down on the practice mats by the big mirrors, stretching out and going over what she had heard of the conversation.

Wildcat had called him Red. She thought that might be for his hair. She was pretty sure he had red hair. It was dark but she could tell that much. Or it could have been an actual name. Having him show up out of nowhere like that had been … it had been … a shock, but in a good way. It made her heart race like when she was about to go up for one of her old kickboxing tournaments or when Wildcat had first agreed to take her on patrol. She didn't know what was starting to happen but something had set the ball rolling.

Wildcat came down from the loft. She pushed herself to her feet and went over to him, glancing between him and the still closed door to the men's locker room.

"So, who is he?" she asked in a loud whisper.

Wildcat grinned and rolled his eyes. Then seemed to grow more serious. "You should go," he said. "Last chance to get out of this. Walk away now."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "I'm not leaving, I told you before."

He fixed her with a stare and made sure she was looking straight at him before he said anything else. "He's Red Arrow, out of Star City. The fact that he's here looking for shelter means he's either running from something or that something big is going to go down soon, maybe both."

Courtney's blood was electric in her veins.

Wildcat seemed to sense it. "Listen Stargirl, you're not ready for the big leagues yet. If something starts going down you hit the road, fly away, got me?"

"Yeah, yeah I got you." She nodded and waved a hand, but her mind was already elsewhere. "So is he staying?"

Wildcat's hands were on his hips now and he was shaking his head at the impossibility of youth. "For a bit. Don't know how long. Probably better he leaves sooner rather then later."

"He must have shown up while we were gone. I mean he wasn't here when we left for patrol, right? You think I could talk with him? Do you think he's hungry? I bet he's starving, I mean if he just showed up. I could pick something up for him. Do you think he likes tacos?"

Wildcat gave her a look that was flat and dry. "Girl, have you heard anything that I have been saying?"

She looked up at him, blinking her big blue eyes. "Of course," she said, the model of innocence. "I just want to be hospitable."

Wildcat's head came down to land in one large hand. This was why he had never had sidekick. In the ring he had no problem, out of the ring everything was a jumbled mess. "I don't know," he finally said, "Fine, go get tacos, but just be careful."

She turned and started for the door but he called after her before she could get too far. "And lose the costume. Don't' really want to draw attention right now." He tried to emphasize that last point but she was already gone, pulling off the mask and pulling on a sweatshirt over the rest of her outfit. She'd kept the belt as usual but the staff was in the corner so there was that at least.

* * *

Batman watched as the Martian locked the last of his prisoners into a sleeping trance.

He had called J'onn in when he had realized that not only was the former Kid Flash active but that he was meeting with nearly a dozen other metas, including several on the Lord's top watch list. Just as the martian had arrived Mr. West had vanished in a blur of motion. Batman would have liked a word with the young Flash but the opportunity was too good to pass up.

Batman had targeted the elder Flash and the Green Lantern as the most dangerous of the group and brought them down as J'onn placed everyone present in a mental lock. The whole thing had been wrapped up quietly without any fuss and the prisoners were relocated to the Central City main police office until proper transport could be arranged to a more secure location. Unfortunately that meant J'onn had to be present to hold the mind lock, taking him away from other duties but it couldn't be helped. This was too important to risk on the skills of anyone else.

With the last of their prisoners locked away in temporary holding Batman stepped forward. J'onn would be able to hold up his end of a conversation now that part of his mind could relax.

"What are your thoughts on this?"

"I do not believe this is a trap if that is what you are asking."

Batman looked at the other man and waited.

J'onn looked over at Jessy. She had been the last into holding. "I would say there is a chance but I know you do not like that concept." The Martian said after a minute, "Some of them disapprove of us, that is certain; but unlike what others are being lead to believe, they are not all working against us. It was certainly not the point of the gathering in their eyes. I could look deeper but it would require releasing my mental hold on the others."

"No, there will be time for that later. I'm more concerned with were they will be going."

"I take it you don't intend to send them to Bel Reeve?"

"A few of them maybe, but on the whole too many of them have good public images. Beast Boy couldn't go there in any case since he's supposed to be one of ours. Jessy has a lot of friends" Batman waved at her to underline his point. "The same can be said for the older members of the group. I wouldn't trust the Lantern there in any case, even without the ring. We need to keep this quiet, until the seed of doubt can spread."

J'onn waited a few beats before speaking. "You want me to take them."

"I believe that would be the best option. In other circumstances I would prefer the Phantom Zone but with Superman's current situation I don't trust that front. Arkham is out for many of the same reasons as Bell Reeve."

There was another pause as J'onn continued to gaze down at the captives. "And the civilians?" He finally asked when it was clear Batman wasn't going to break the silence first.

"Both Iris West and Joan Garrick can be assumed to be involved. Ms West-Allen certainly hasn't bothered to hide her opinion on the matter. The other young woman, Linda Park, is another matter. I'm still building up a file on her. This seems to be the first she's appeared on the scene."

"You know that is not what I meant."

"Can your facility handle it or not?"

"We can handle it but such an influx will necessitate an advance in other areas."

"I trust you'll handle it."

A knock came from the door and a detective opened it enough to call through to them. "Sorry for interrupting Lord Batman but a 911 call just came in that I was told you would want to hear. It may concern the arrests made by yourself earlier this evening."

Batman turned to J'onn.

The Martian Manhunter submitted under the intensity. "I'll see that the transport is arranged."

Batman nodded and went off to see what the officer was going on about.

* * *

Courtney returned with food to find Ted, now out of costume, going over the perimeter and double checking all the doors. Red Arrow was settled onto one of the practice mats, legs crossed as he inventoried his arrows. He looked dead on his feet, but even so his hands were steady as they carefully polished each arrowhead, checked fletching and took care of any chemicals that some of the arrows seemed to contain.

Slipping off her shoes she padded over to Red Arrow, trying to act casual while in reality insanely curious.

"Uh, hey. You hungry?" She sat down the bag, then settled down herself, making sure she wasn't going to spook him.

Red glanced over at the bag from Taco-Bell then glanced back to his work. He took a breath and seemed to come out of a trance. "Right. Food." He ran his hand down the shaft of one last arrow and slid it back into his quiver. He searched through the bag, grabbing out a taco and unwrapping it. He didn't seem to care what he was eating, just that it was there in front of him and he needed to keep going for just a little longer.

"You look exhausted. What happened?" Red Arrow raised an eyebrow at the question. "Well, you don't get this worn out without something happening."

"Do you pay attention to the news?"

"Not really."

"Well, take a look tomorrow."

"You fought someone?"

"More like ran away from them." He paused and his gaze was steady on her now. "I recognize the staff. Used to belong to Starman out of Opal city, but he's been dead for more then a few years. How did you end up with it?"

"I stole it from my stepdad."

"And who is he?"

"Pat Dugan?"

Red Arrow seemed to settle into himself. He was looking at where the staff was leaning against the wall with speculation in his eyes. "Can I borrow it?"

Courtney hesitated. "Umm, no. sorry but I don't know you. That would be like me taking your bow, right? Even if Ted says you're ok – " she shook her head. "I may not have made it or anything but, it's mine now. What do you want with it anyway?"

He was still looking at the staff rather then her, but he was either open enough or exhausted enough for her to see the honesty on his face. "That person I didn't fight today … was Static. I was after this prototype, and he just came out of nowhere. He was there in seconds. I had a long drive to think about it and he was there too fast."

Courtney waited but he had trailed off. Finally her mouth was booted over to autopilot and the questions her mind was producing came pouring out. "Wow, Okay so Static, that's big and all but I don't really get how that has anything to do with my staff or why getting there fast is such a big deal. I mean isn't that kind of the point? Heroes are supposed to to show up all dramatically and save the day. It's like, in the contract isn't it?"

He shook his head. The food might have been helping because he seemed to be paying more attention. "Even if he had been patrolling nearby he would have needed time to realize something was wrong and respond to it. No, he was already there. Livewire said there were fluctuations in the power grid. I should have guessed it then." He turned back to Courtney and leaned forward, his hands came up and suddenly his words were intense, full of passion with his hands sketching out ideas in the air. "See I checked the prototype. It needs an enormous power source. That's probably the reason why no one's taken the idea seriously, why we were able to steal it at all. But with Static there, that wouldn't be an issue, just have him hold the end of a wire and you're good to go. But that means even though I have the device it's useless since I can't power it. Just one giant paper weight unless I can funnel the a city's whole power grid into it." He paused and his eyes went back to the staff. "Or find a viable substitute."

Courtney started laughing. She couldn't help it. The thought of her staff being able to power a whole city was far fetched enough, but to throw out some theory about using it to power a stolen technological marvel was too much. It was like she had slipped sideways into some action flick. Then she realized that as a hero and sort of member of the resistance her life might just be turning into an action flick and that set her off again.

Red Arrow didn't seem to understand because he had gone serious. "From everything I've heard that staff draws energy straight from the stars. That's the same energy that powers Superman if you need some kind of comparison. I don't think you have any idea how powerful that weapon really is."

"No I get it I do, it's just that my life has been incredibly boring since I got here, and you showing up like this is probably the biggest thing in my whole life so I'm kind of a little bit giddy right now." She took a deep breath and afterwords her voice was steady. "I'll help. Just, what exactly are we trying to do?"

The corner of Red Arrow's mouth came up in a sly half smile. "Let me show you."

 


	19. Chapter 19

It was a long moment before either Dick or Batman moved.

Dick was probably one of only a few people on the planet who could stand his ground when the Dark Knight was trying to stare them down, but in truth he hadn't actually spoken to the man in over a year. The last time he had even viewed a recording was when Batman had said he was going to help their revolution from the inside. Dick had never made his mind up about that.

This was going to be hell.

Dick settled back on his heels. "Wow, the Batman, the Dark Knight himself. Should I be honored? Because I feel honored. Unless you know I should be terrified, because you know it's been a long night and being terrified really takes the energy out of you, you know, so if we could just skip that part, that would be great. Say aren't you supposed to be some kind of ninja vampire? Or are you actually a demon, reaping the souls of the wicked? Because I've heard both stories and you know, I could never really keep it all straight. Unless you were just some guy in a mask, that would be kind of a letdown actually."

Batman growled. Internally Dick was smirking. Yep, he still had it, that endless ability to slide right past Bruce's defenses. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad night after all. If he had come in as Nightwing things would have been on Bruce's terms, and if he had run then Bruce would have had the next move, chase or don't. It even struck him that since he was "Dick" he still had angles he could play. Dick Grayson had never met the Dark Knight. Dick was in fact a Bludhaven cop. From the outside they were on the same team. In fact, Dick could tell the one hundred percent truth and Batman couldn't do a thing about it, at least at the moment. He would of course be making Dick's life a living hell as soon as there weren't cameras around.

Batman was glaring behind the mask, Dick could tell. Except then he apparently decided to ignore Dick's words, stepping forward as if he hadn't spoken. That wasn't how these things went. Dick took a step back, maintaining the distance between them, suddenly a bit nervous about the whole thing.

"You placed a 911 call about a robbery at 14 Linnwood Drive earlier this evening?"

Dick took a breath and tried to center himself again. So many things were tied into that voice. He turned giving himself an extra moment to collect himself by turning to the old couch and perching on the arm. He drew strength from his Nightwing persona and fed it into his spine.

"Yes, I made that call."

"Why were you there?"

Dick was good at reading Bruce and Batman alike but that tone was hard to pin down. There was a touch of resentment in the words but it was overshadowed by something else that didn't fit anything Dick could recall.

"Barbecue. The house belongs to the aunt of a friend of mine; they were throwing a big party. Don't really know the occasion, it was pretty short notice. I was in LA when I got the invite and decided to make a detour on my way back to Bludhaven. I got in a little later than expected but I thought the party might still be going so I headed over. When I got there no one answered the door, so I poked my head around back and things didn't look right. I called it in." Dick kept his words polite and to the point. He was in cop mode, and could have been delivering a report to any superior if there wasn't a man in a bat costume looming over him.

"Were you aware of who else was at this party?"

"I could make some guesses but I wasn't sent a copy of the guest list."

Batman stood, still glaring, except this time he seemed to be debating something internally. That was one look that Dick knew well.

"Jesse Chambers." Dick Blinked, Batman kept going without pause. "Allen Scott, Jay Garrick, Rick Tyler, Tara Markov, Linda Park. Do you know any of those people?"

Batman had laid out the names like a minefield. He knew who Dick knew and who he had never had the chance to meet, well, except for the last two names. Neither of them rang any bells. So was he fishing or was Dick out of the loop.

"I know a few of them. I met Jesse once upon a time. Jay is something like Wally's grandpa. Met him a few times. Oh, Wally's my friend, the one I came to see. The others, Rick, is that like Jesse's finance?"

"Why were you invited? When was the last time you had contact with these people?"

"What?" And now Dick was honestly a bit confused. "Because I'm Wally's friend? I haven't seen any of these people for months, years. Wally's had a couple of hard years, I try to support my friend. The others, I've barely met them. I don't even know who half the people on that list are."

Dick was telling the truth. Nightwing knew almost everyone mentioned, and could guess at a few more names that hadn't come up, but in this case the two personas were very different. Dick was wondering what the hell was going on, why he was suddenly faced with one of the Lords, and Batman at that; he wasn't even in Gotham. Nightwing was putting together the pieces, calculating probabilities and running different scenarios. Batman had given away the greatest clue by stepping through the doorway. There was very little that could draw the Dark Knight from his city these days.

Then it clicked. The only scenario that fit the pieces. His mind went over what he knew of the crime scene again. He added the potential involvement of another Lord, and then cross-referenced the probability of different guests being invited and actually showing up.

Oh they were royally fucked.

Dick shifted, glancing in the direction of the camera then fell back into his civilian character. "Look, I don't know what you want with me. All I did was call it in. My friend is still missing. I don't know anything. You can check for yourself, my plane didn't get in until after eleven."

Batman was the one who had crashed the party. Batman couldn't prove that Dick knew anything about whatever bull he was charging Wally and everyone else with. Except, Dick wasn't so sure they actually had Wally. If they did, he wouldn't be sitting in the nice version of the interrogation room. Batman could probably pull rank and try to get Dick locked up, but it would be a hard job. Dick had a very good alibi and what evidence there was, was roundabout and circumspect at best. In the past Batman would have let a criminal in his position go and give him enough rope to hang himself with, but that was before he had started calling himself a Lord.

Dick was furious but it was Bruce's move so he tucked away any emotion, pushing it down as deep as he could.

Batman watched him. It was a kind of steady, unrelenting pressure that slowly increased, building up until whoever was its focus, cracked. Of course that was without the training and knowledge Dick had. Still, for the sake of the cameras he could play the part. He waited until the silence had grown to start shifting on his perch. A minute or so later he pushed himself to his feet and bounced slightly where he stood. Behind the white lenses Dick thought he saw Bruce's eyes narrow. Dick waited another beat then crossed the room to the water cooler, slowly filling one of the paper cups and sipping at it. Every few second he would shift his balance again or glance at the figure of Batman.

At last Batman stepped forward. Just one step, but it was enough for the act that Dick was playing. He had seen it happen a hundred times, a thousand times and now he just fell into what he remembered. "I'm sorry, I swear I don't know anything. Whatever they were doing I had nothing to do with it. I wasn't a part of any of it. I wasn't even going to go to their party but I though what the hell and the plane had to refuel anyway. I'll tell you whatever you want to know." As he spoke Dick stumbled back nearly knocking over the water cooler and spilling the water left in his cup down his side. It was clumsy and nervous and exactly the kind of thing someone might be expected to do if they thought a nightmare was there in the room with them.

Batman had stopped after that single step. When Dick was left breathing heavy with water dripping off him Batman stiffened slightly. For a moment Dick wasn't sure what he was seeing, then Batman had masked himself again and was sweeping back towards the door.

"He doesn't know anything. Get him out of here and stop wasting my time." Batman snarled at the officer stationed outside the door. The Dark Knight vanished, sweeping down the hall in a cloud of broiling anger. The young officer glanced in at Dick who was still acting like he had suffered the fear of his life.

After that Dick had no trouble getting out of the building.

* * *

The SLIDE system teleporter was surprisingly small. There was the projection field that unfolded into a large cube in the air but the rest of it was compact. Only the size of a hard cover book or a portable hard drive. It would have of course needed to be much bigger if a power source was attached but since that wasn't the case it became rather underwhelming.

Stargirl brought over her staff and helped to pry open a panel in the handle. This clearly wasn't the first time the star rod had been repurposed for use as a battery as the wires were still loose enough to twist out of place.

Red seemed to have hit his second wind because he was going over the SLIDE teleporter like it was a box that held the secrets to the universe. He checked and double checked what he remembered, delicately plucking at the wiring until he found the single cable that he wanted. Drawing it out he used a thin blade to open the casing ad reveal the copper beneath.

Courtney reached forward but Red Arrow stopped her, instead touching the copper to the ends of a battery first. With the first whirring of power inside the generator and a faint blue light Red Arrow nodded. This time when Courtney came closer Red didn't stop her. With small precise movements they worked together to connect the two wonders of science.

Red Arrow kept his eyes on the teleporter, seemingly able to read the fluctuations on the display panel, while Stargirl listened to the beeps and subtle clicks of the star rod translating that into a language that no other person alive spoke.

Ted came in at some point. He snorted when he found them both still there despite the fact that it was now near four in the morning. "Hey Stargirl, aren't your parents going to be worried if you're not in your bed in the morning? I'm not going to keep taking you on patrol if your parents start getting suspicious."

She waved a hand in his direction. "I'll be home before they wake up, and even if they ask I'll just say a friend had a break down and needed my help right away."

It came out so offhand that Ted knew she wasn't actually paying attention to what she was saying let alone the consequences that this might mean for down the line. He was about to just shake his head and turn away when Red Arrow gave a triumphant grunt and the device they had been working on for an hour or more finally switched on.

The projection field was set to its smallest setting so they didn't run into one of the weight machines. It left the cube at five feet wide by five feet long and high. A perfectly square space filled with rippling blue light that seemed to overlay the rest of the world. Then there was a _phisss_ sound and the field collapsed again.

"No," Red Arrow cried out and was back at the device in seconds. "We had it. I know we had it, what the hell?" Frustration filled his tone and his hands were running through his hair.

"Hang on," Stargirl called, talking straight over his frustrated grunts. "I think I've got this." she flipped a switch behind a hidden panel of the star rod and twisted the ring around the base of the hook. "Try a restart now."

Red Arrow went through the shutdown sequence even though the device had kicked off already then started it back up slowly. The field started to glow again, this time not the shimmering blue but a sparking gold. It seemed to flicker and everyone held their breaths. After two full minutes it hadn't faded. Red Arrow begun to laugh. It was an amazing sound that set Stargirl off as well. Even Ted was chuckling under his breath.

Finally Courtney pulled herself together enough to ask a question. "So, what now? How do we know it's actually working and not just going to fry the first thing that goes in there?"

"Well, there's one quick way." Ted offered. "Hey Red, keep your eyes on those numbers." Ted drew the towel from his post patrol shower off his shoulders, stepped forward and tossed it into the field. A cascade of silver and gold ripples bounced through the field and seemed to collect off the towel as it flopped through the air and landed on the ground.

"Wow, pretty. But did that actually do anything?" Stargirl had to ask.

Red Arrow was staring at his numbers without touching any of the dials and switches that he had been fiddling with up until now. He looked pensive, as if he didn't know what exactly he was looking at yet.

"I think...I think it needs something." He pressed a pair of buttons then nodded turning to Ted. "Do you have a keyboard around here anywhere?"

Ted nodded and went to unplug the keyboard from the computer in his office. The SLIDE system seemed to have a bluetooth connection, but not a USB port so they spent the next half hour fiddling with more wires until finally the thing was accepting typed out commands. The small screen - looked like someone had salvaged it from an old smartphone - was filled with command line code. Red Arrow hesitated. Clearly he was more comfortable with hardware then software. Eventually he did settle in and start typing even if it was with only two fingers at a time.

It took another quarter hour before he looked up at Courtney and spoke. "I think it wants numbers."

Both Stargirl and Ted came closer looking at the small screen he held.

–

L: 40.57

L: -74.05

A: 0.5

–

"Ok, what does LLA mean?" Stargirl asked.

"I don't know. It must be preset but there's a whole bunch of combos in here."

"Maybe just choose one?"

They looked at each other, then Red Arrow shrugged and hit enter.

The Yellow fog swirling in the projection field settled into lines and textures like a wireframe of a street corner. The bricks in one wall stood out in contrast to the nearly smooth concrete and the crumpled plastic bag that had been swept into the gutter. There were no surfaces, only lines, and suddenly the lines around the towel made sense as part of a larger pattern.

"Wow."

"Yeah, I think it may actually be working."

"Hey, can I see that?" Ted said, speaking up for the first time in a while.

Red handed over the device. He seemed mesmerized by the projection in any case.

Stargirl watched Red Arrow. There was a tension in him, an excitement, and after spending several hours with the man she realized just how much this must mean to him. He was running on fumes and was still pushing forwards, when even she and Ted were starting to lag. She may still have been wearing her costume but he was the real hero in the room, worn sweatpants or not.

Ted was typing at the keyboard, and the scene changed. A different street corner, a field, a tree, the edge of someone's kitchen sink, The curve of a large round table on a hardwood floor, they all flashed into existence one by one. The frames of golden light got easier to understand after the first few locations. Panels and surfaces could be filled in like some computer simulation only it was far too detailed to be anything but a real place.

Ted's phone went off at the same time as the phone in the office went off and the exit sign over the main doors flashed a violent red. Ted had the phone out of his jacket pocket in record time, barely glancing over it before launching to his feet.

"Lords Incoming!" was all he managed to get out before the front doors were blown inwards and the single pane of glass separating the front office and reception from the main room shattered.

Stargirl would swear that Red didn't need another teleporter because somehow his bow was already in his hand and the quiver that had been set aside hours ago was there in the perfect spot for him to draw. Wildcat had dived into a forward roll sliding into place beneath the shattered window taking advantage of the cover.

Stargirl had her staff in hand and she had never taken off the belt, but even so she was the slowest to react. She stumbled back, bringing up the star rod and trying to take cover where there was none. Only the rush of adrenalin flooding her system and the endless hours of practice kept her eyes open and the scream of terror from leaving her throat.

The ball of chain lightning came through the busted window and Stargirl reacted like she would have when any other high-speed sphere came rocketing towards her. She swung her staff in one sweep across her chest and because the laws of physics apparently worked that way, and because her staff was totally awesome, the ball of lightning was knocked upward. It connected with the large florescent lights and glass came raining down as the building went dark.

In the sudden absence of light, Green Lantern's entrance became the single bright and terrible focus point in the large room. John Stewart sent out a rope of emerald energy, and suddenly Stargirl was caught, wrapped around the middle before she had the slightest hope of reacting. She gasped in air only to hear the twang of a bowstring under her own harsh breath. More electricity danced through the air and the Green Lantern brought up his shields, scanning the dark for the person sending arrows at him.

Wildcat entered the fight with his usual ferocity. He grappled the Lantern from behind where his shields had lost coherence. Getting the Lantern's head in a lock he snarled out something that Stargirl couldn't understand over her own labored breathing.

Stargirl finally got her act together. The Lantern's rope was going loose as he fought with Wildcat. She levered her star rod to get enough room to slip down and out of the loop. Flight was out of the question since she had rerouted that power to fuel the teleporter - which was still sitting there glowing away, the corner of that table etched out as a nonexistent object in the air. Well there was no time to fix it now; at least she still had her starbolts. She took quick aim at the only target she could currently see and sent a hail of golden stars at Green Lantern's chest.

She didn't see if she hit her target because someone else hit her. He was only about her own age, but his costume had seen action. She caught flashes of dreadlocks and dark skin as he reached for her with lightning in his hands. She brought her staff up between them, trying to knock him back. Instead he caught it and they spun, the staff trapped between them and probably the only thing that kept Stargirl from getting electrocuted. Finally she found her footing and planted her weight. Without the belt the throw would have probably just stunned him for a moment, but with it augmenting her strength the lightning user was tossed halfway across the room.

The explosion went off behind her and to the right. Stargirl had a brief moment to think that it had to be Red Arrow before she was being thrown through the air. There was gold all around her, the staff was sparking. The side of her head connected with smooth marble. Stargirl was out of the fight.

* * *

Red Arrow was used to fighting in the dark. Static had gotten a bead on him before the lights went out, but Red Arrow had slipped behind one of the weight machines and managed to confuse him. Then Stargirl had given away her position to help Wildcat. The move was an amateur mistake, Wildcat already had the upper hand, at least for the moment, and now Static was going to take Stargirl out of the fight. He notched another arrow, waiting for his moment.

Green Lantern dropped his other constructs focusing on his shields and forcing Wildcat away with a sphere of power. The prize fighter didn't have time to react before he was hoisted into the air with no leverage to fight back.

Red Arrow saw his opening and aimed for the spot between Green Lantern's shoulder blades, but apparently that trick was only going to work once. A wall of green energy appeared to deflect the arrow and it hit the floor, triggering the explosive tip.

Static went flying. Stargirl was thrown by the explosion. The teleporter's projection was short circuited and went out.

"Enough!" Green Lantern shouted and the room was suddenly filled with green light and energy. It wrapped around Red Arrow like a straightjacket, and he could see the same thing happening to Wildcat. Static untangled himself from a rowing machine and went over to stand beside Green Lantern. The fight was over, and Red Arrow had lost.

 

 


	20. Chapter 20

Nightwing left the Police station, climbed onto his motorcycle and gunned the bike to life. His hands were beginning to shake as the rush of adrenalin left his system. Facing Bruce like that, facing Batman like that was not something he had ever planned on, and while he had handled the situation as well as could be hoped, he never wanted to be in that situation again.

What he needed to do now was get some sleep so he could think. There were so many layers to their interaction that even with his training and his knowledge of Bruce, Dick couldn't pin them all down.

He needed to figure out who exactly Batman had captured and was Wally among them. He needed to talk to Barbara, and get her opinion on the situation. He had to wonder how far the repercussions of this day would spread.

The thrumming of the bike under him settled his thoughts, easing the tension out of him. He needed sleep, needed eight hours of uninterrupted rest. Not that he was going to get it. By the next morning the West household would be a sealed crime scene, and there would be no way in without leaving some kind of trace. He needed to get another look now, while he still could. Then he needed to lay a trail out of town. Dick Grayson, the character he had portrayed in that room, would get out of there as soon as he could after what he had been through. Nightwing needed some kind of cover and none of the one's he had already established both fit the profile he needed and had reason to be here in the gem cities.

Ok so, no time for sleep. He pulled into a gas station and bought a pair of energy boosters, slipping on his headset as he went. Hitting the call button he slid back onto his bike and pointed his headlights back towards Linwood drive and the empty house that had once belonged to the speedsters.

"Hey circus boy." was Barbara's greeting as she picked up after the first ring.

God it was good to hear her voice. "Hey Babs, you busy?"

"Well, I was going to remap the internet again but I suppose I could put that off if you had something more interesting." Her tone was teasing. At that moment Dick wanted nothing more than to curl up in a chair and ask what she was wearing.

"Interesting might not be the right word. I just had an encounter with the old man."

She paused, "I thought you were in Central."

"That's right. Bruce crashed the party."

"Ouch."

"Pretty much. Except I got there late and missed half the fun."

"Half?"

Dick nodded, more for his own sake then for hers. Then he took a deep breath and laid out what had happened. By the end of his story Barbara had hacked into the police station cameras and was viewing the conversation for herself. Dick didn't know how she did it but she managed to figure out who had been captured and that most of the new prisoners were being processed out before morning. Only four people didn't fall into that category, Joan, Iris, Sue Digby and the Linda Park character that Batman had mentioned. It was logical that Linda was a civilian since the others were the only names on the list without some kind of meta-ability. Not exactly a comforting thought given that the others would be leaving and thus getting out of Batman's presence and the line of fire. What was going to happen to the four women left behind was anyone's guess.

"Well," Barbara said as Dick once again pulled his bike around the back of Iris's house. "Wally isn't there, that much is clear. There's no mention of any Flash either, at least not in the official reports. Dick rumors are flying here. I know these things tend to spiral out of control but since that first event with the Weather Wizard people have reported seeing red blurs all over the twin cities. Twitter's gone crazy and I can't even count the number of blurry photo's that have been posted on Facebook and Herowatch."

The sound of tapping keys came through from Barbara's end of the phone for a bit.

"Look, you do what you need to do there. I just got an alert from another of my contacts. I'll try to find out where everyone's being sent and get back to you when I can."

"Thanks Babs, you're a gem." Dick said and rang off. He stood there beside the house for a minute, just breathing and centering himself again. He went to grab his Nightwing costume out of his pack. Right now he didn't need the extra distraction of trying to be Dick on the outside and Nightwing on the inside. Plus the boots he was wearing were nowhere near silent. After a quick change he slipped back into the house, once more using the back door so no one would notice.

The house should have been empty. It had only been about two and a half hours since he had last been under that roof and given that it was now about 4:30 in the morning, it wasn't like anyone was going to pop by for tea and cookies. Except there was a light on in the kitchen. It wasn't the big overhead light but the soft glow lights above the bar that no one ever actually used. The figure was standing there, neglecting the stools. He was leaning forward on his arms, hunched in on himself and backlit with a soft orange halo that somehow didn't clash with the dusty red shirt and hair.

Nightwing slipped through the door and took a few steps towards his friend. Wally didn't sense him at first, looking intently down at something in his hands. Nightwing took another step and it was then that Wally moved. The blur of motion caught Nightwing off guard, Wally had after all been neglecting his powers for ages now, but suddenly Wally was behind him, one hand vibrating next to his ear and ready to scramble his brains if he made a wrong move.

"Easy Wally, it's me." Nightwing said, but Wally was already stepping back, returning to his spot by the bar. He moved slow enough that Nightwing could see him this time. Wally slumped onto a stool and watched as Nightwing moved to sit beside him.

Only when Nightwing was sitting did Wally speak. "Hey, sorry about that. Guess I'm a bit jumpy. I – it's been a hard day."

"I can imagine." Nightwing looked Wally over. His clothes were ragged and torn, covered in dust, and even though his words had been steady he was vibrating on his seat. "Wally, what are you doing here? Do you know what happened?"

Wally laughed, one short mocking bark that was more painful then mirthful. "I have no idea."

Nightwing waited but Wally seemed to be stuck on that point. Nightwing didn't even know which question he had been answering, or maybe it had been both. He opened his mouth to tell Wally everything that had happened, everything that he had found out in the last few hours but the only thing that came out was. "Yeah." a tired silence settled over them, but Nightwing eventually had to ask. "You ok?"

"I have no idea." Wally said again, then "She's gone, everyone's gone, fuck. My life sucks." Nightwing let out a small chuckle, and Wally had to talk over him. "Seriously, some higher power has it out for me. Everyone I know either dies or vanishes into thin air, or turns out to be from another universe or something. The minute I decide maybe I can do this, maybe I can help people without either going over to the dark side or-"

"You would make a terrible super-villain."

"Shut up. The minute I think I can deal with this, My friends vanish, my girlfriend is kidnapped and-"

"She was your girlfriend?"

"Maybe, I don't know. What I'm trying to say is that my life sucks."

"Dude, I wish I had your life." Wally looked over at him, and it was so dry that Nightwing had to laugh. "No seriously. Being the Flash would be awesome." color appeared high on Wally's cheeks and he looked away but he still didn't say anything.

Dick took the fact that he didn't protest the name to be a sign to continue. "Do you know what the Flash has that no other hero has? People love him. Even before the Lords went and took over, no one had that, not Superman, certainly not Batman, Not Green Lantern." Wally was rolling his eyes so Nightwing decided to drive home his point. "Think about it. People admired Superman, he was an ideal, but he was always up above everyone. Wonder Woman, she had fans, men wanted to date her, women wanted to be her, but people never just wanted to hang out with her, talk with her. Green Lantern is gone too much of the time to make a real impact, and Batman has made it his life's goal to scare people shitless. The Flash was the only hero who ever talked to people, got to know them. The people here love him because they know him, they've talked with him. They've seen him do his best against impossible odds and succeed and fail as just another citizen. He was never above anyone else. You know, not even Superman sticks around to help repair the damage done during fights? Only Flash does that. Do you have any idea how many rumors have been started, how excited people are, since you've started running around again?"

Wally shook his head. "They love Barry, not me."

Nightwing leaned back against the bar studying his friend in the dim light. "Wally, what were you doing after you left and Batman nabbed everyone?"

Wally, looked away and his hand clamped down on whatever it was he kept fiddling with.

"Come on, where did you go? And what kept you away for so long that you still weren't back when I was here earlier?"

"I was at the bridge."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Nightwing leaned in and brought a hand to his ear in a dramatic gesture.

"I went back to the bridge to see if there was anything else I could do to help, Okay? You're right; I helped get it stabilized again."

Nightwing was grinning. "And?"

"And I did a few loops of the city looking for the Weather Wizard."

"And?"

Wally's shoulders had slumped and he looked like a kid who was being told to eat his vegetables. "And, I may have stopped a few pick-pockets, and muggings."

"And?"

"And what, that's it. Not even I can be everywhere at once."

"I rest my case."

Wally glared at Nightwing. "I'm still not the Flash. And even if I was what kind of hero let's everyone he knows get kidnapped possibly killed."

It was Nightwing's turn to roll his eyes. "Okay, first: Yes they all got captured, but they're all fine. I had a friend hack into police systems and she didn't report any injuries. Second: I don't think there's a hero on the planet who hasn't had their significant other tied to a doomsday device at some point. It just means you get to go save the girl."

"And how often does the hero get there too late?" Wally had slumped forward, curling in on himself. The stool was beginning to squeak from his vibrating.

Nightwing looked over at his friend, his gaze steady. "So who is this girl anyway? How long have you been dating?"

"This was kind of going to be our first date."

"Wow guess you have to save her then. Once she finds out you're a hero she'll fall for you for sure."

"Well, she was kind of, there at the Weather Wizard thing earlier. She knows I have powers."

"You don't do anything by halves do you? Now you've really got to save her."

Wally fell forward until his head was on his folded arms, and groaned.

Nightwing leaned forward, "But you were already planning on it." He reached out, taking Wally's hand and turning it over. Sitting in Wally's palm, was a red and gold lighting inscribed ring.

Wally looked up at Nightwing. Most of his face still hidden, his eyes looked frightened at first then he closed his eyes and when he opened them again the tension had been replaced with amused resignation "God we have weird lives."

Nightwing slung a hand over Wally's shoulder. "Yes we do."

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Wally was looking up at his friend.

Nightwing shrugged. "You're just out of practice. You'll hit your stride in no time."

Wally elbowed his friend in the side. Then the light in his eyes dimmed again, but instead of fear or sorrow Nightwing saw consideration.

"Dick?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you let me handle this? I mean, I think I need – " he couldn't find the right word but Nightwing seemed to understand anyway.

"Yeah, sure, mind if I follow the Martin's trail though? I'd rather not have half the heroes I know vanish to who knows where."

"Fine by me. Want me to keep you in the loop?"

Nightwing smiled. "Absolutely."

* * *

John called in his prisoners, then passed them on to J'onn as the Martian was heading north. He had barely gotten back to the watchtower when the next emergency leapt at him. It wasn't that the meteor shower on Keroaas was difficult to manage but with the Batman tied up in Central and J'onn dealing with the nuts and bolts of things he was the only one left to actively protect the earth. Being short handed was bad enough but this was too much. As soon as he returned he called Batman.

"I'm activating the lieutenants."

Silence rang through from the other end of the communicator.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes, but not all of them can be trusted. I'll send you an approved list. You'll have to tie it in with the press release, And I'm not authorizing full membership, probationary status only."

Green Lantern rolled his eyes. Of course Batman would already have planned for this contingency. Probationary members would serve his needs though so it was a moot point.

"Fine send me the list, but I reserve the right to veto anyone I don't agree with."

"Fine." and Batman rang off.

So that was how Green Lantern ended up standing in the central conference hall of the watchtower surrounded by heroes he didn't entirely trust, and who he would now be leading. It wasn't that there were so many of them but the different personalities alone were going to make this an exorcize in herding cats.

Static had been close to the bottom of Batman's list but with his recent assistance in capturing Red Arrow, John had bumped him to the top. The young man was trying to act cool over all his nerves and excitement. Supergirl was also high on the list. Before the Lords had met their counterparts she had been complaining about not having anything to do in the small town Superman had stashed her. A few former military leaders were among the group, Captain Atom and Commander Steel. John didn't know if Shining Knight fell into that category but the three men seemed to understand each other. That would make his job slightly easier. Of course Plastic Man was likely to throw everything off all on his own and putting him on a team with anyone would be a nightmare. John honestly had no idea how Plastic Man had made Batman's list. John had no solid reason to veto him though, so he stayed. Two women, Vixen and Ice rounded out the group along with a newcomer, The Ray. The Ray had only been active for a few months but he had been working with Doctor light out on the west coast, and Batman seemed to be willing to trust him.

The group had been summoned to the watchtower, and when they weren't trying to act professional most of them were sneaking glances at the tech and the view of the earth below. Normal procedure had lieutenants teleported directly from one location to another without a stop in the space station. It was for security reasons but it meant that Captain Atom and Supergirl were the only ones who had been there before and then only because both of them could handle space flight.

"All right, if we could get started." Green Lantern said and launched into his prepared lecture.

* * *

Static listened to the prepared press release that would go out about how the Lords had been inactive after some mix up in Gotham. Frankly he wasn't sure he believed the whole "We were stepping back to see if the world would survive without us." pitch. As a hero himself he knew that sometimes crazy stuff happened and you had to deal with it, didn't matter if that stuff was interdimentinal alternate realities or dealing with your sister's break down. The fact that Hawkgirl had been put on the injured list and 'would be taking a step back from active duty' pointed to something more than just a test gone wrong. While it wasn't uncommon for Wonder Woman to go back to Paradise Island for stretches of time, Superman wasn't normally out of the spotlight for anywhere near this long. Maybe he really was dealing with something off-planet.

In the end Static decided it didn't matter. These people were heroes, and not just heroes, they were the best heroes on the planet. If they needed some time off every once in a while it was only natural. Static was just pleased he had been tapped as one of the second stringers.

He didn't know much about the other heroes who were being promoted. Supergirl and the Ray were the only others his age. Like all the lieutenants each of them would have their own jurisdiction. Dakota was busy enough that Static didn't get a lot of opportunities for team ups, or at least not until now.

Finally Green Lantern got around to the reason they were all there. "Due to the recent situation the Lords have come to the decision that certain of our lieutenants should be trained to work as a secondary team under the Lords command. While up to this point having lieutenants stationed in key cities has been enough, there have been close calls. If something were to happen while the Lords were off world or dealing with another crisis, this new team would be tapped to assist. Members of this new team will respond to emergency calls funneled through the watchtower and work anywhere you're needed. You're all been chosen for this team because of your dedication and skill. This is not a mandatory position but the opportunity certainly won't come up again for some time. For those of you who choose to accept the nomination, there will be a trial period. The purpose of the trial will be to determine how well you can work together and if you can handle the extra time, and responsibilities a position on this team will require. Any questions so far?"

Green Lantern looked around then nodded at a stiff-backed man in a silver uniform.

"How many people will be on this team?"

"As many of you as can handle it. The original pitch was for a team of six. Six Lords, six of you, but we'd rather train more of you, and know that you can handle it then have someone drop out and find ourselves short-handed." Green Lantern looked around for another question. When no one stepped forward he went on with the pitch. "Alright then, anyone who is having doubts, now would be the time to leave."

There was a bit of shuffling and Static caught others glancing around like he was, but no one moved to leave.

Green Lantern nodded after a minute and launched into the rest of it. "We'll start by splitting you into teams of three. You're all used to working with a partner on occasion, so this will get you used to working with more than one person. You'll get four weeks to learn how each other work, and then we'll rotate members until you've worked with everyone. Incrementally we'll stage exercises using all of you. For the time being I'll be the one you report to, though in time you will work with all the Lords. Your communicators will also be upgraded so that you can contact each other at any time, and other lieutenants will be able to recognize the superior frequency. Eventually members of this new team will be put in charge of other lieutenants, but until a formal announcement has been made I recommend you don't flaunt this new authority."

Green Lantern paused to drill home the importance and the responsibility. He was about to continue when his ring flashed softly. He glanced down at it and frowned slightly.

"Get to know each other. I'll be back in a moment." Green Lantern slipped down from the short elevated platform and slipped out a side door.

Static turned to the others in the room. He wasn't sure what to make of most of them. Apart from having heard of several of them, he didn't have much background information. He didn't even know all of their powers. Supergirl would have been obvious even if she wasn't famous, and Vixen was well known as both a hero and a world class supermodel. The two men in the metal suits looked like military; Static hoped he wasn't placed on a team with either of them, at least not straight off. Although now that he thought about it he could probably magnetize the suits to do some pretty cool stuff. As for the others, he knew some of them by sight, others by name or reputation, and some not at all.

Static found himself gravitating towards the only other hero there his age. Well there was Supergirl but he was still working up to talking to her. The young man who had been announced as the Ray wore a yellow and blue body suit and seemed to glow. He also didn't really have eyes, just small glowing suns where his eyes should be. It made Static glad his goggles were tinted.

"Hey." Ray said when Static stopped beside him.

"Hey." Static paused, again looking around the room. "So am I the only one feeling a bit out of their depth here?"

"Oh, hell no." the Ray grinned. "At least you've been doing this for a while. I have no idea how I got picked for this after only doing the job for six months."

"Well, that's a relief. I was afraid for a moment I was forgetting who you were, I mean, sorry, I've been really busy."

"No problem. I'm the Ray, or just Ray. I mostly do tricks with light and stuff, some radio waves too. You're Static, right? I've heard of you."

"Whatever you've heard I swear it's not true."

"No, good stuff, well, Mostly." Ray looked him up and down. "Did you really use the Joker's own hand buzzer against him?"

Static Laughed. "Actually yeah, that was ages ago."

"That must have been awesome. All I normally have to deal with are accidents and occasionally ships getting into trouble. Well, and the stuff from the studios but I mostly try to avoid all that."

"Where are you from again?"

"L.A. and trust me it's not as glamorous as the movies."

"Well, at least you've got good weather. We get a lot of storms in Decota, although that could be partially my fault."

Ray asked about Decota and Static started in on all the normal features. He found himself liking Ray, at least in the amiable, we work together way. He wasn't used to being around too many other heroes. Static had done the solo thing basically from the beginning, but that hadn't exactly been by choice. By all accounts this new team thing would be tough and fitting it into his schedule would be a challenge in its self, but he was looking forward to it.

When Green Lantern returned Static and Ray were still talking and Static was suddenly hoping they were put on the same team. Green Lantern didn't step up onto the platform this time, just stood in front of it and looked them over, identifying the groups that had formed and who looked like they were excited or nervous.

"Right," he said, "where was I? Teams. I'm going to split you up this first time to try to balance out skill sets and strengths, but like I said earlier you'll be working with everyone eventually. Captain Atom, you're on a team with Vixen and the Ray."

Ray looked at Static shrugged, then shifted a few feet to join his new team

"Supergirl," the girl of Steel looked up in anticipation. "You're on a team with Static and Shining Knight."

Well, Static didn't know anything about Shining Knight but there was no way he was going to complain about being on a team with Supergirl.

"Which leaves Plastic Man, Ice and Commander Steel on the final team." Green Lantern concluded. "Make sure you all turn your communicators in to the tech department for upgrades before you leave. In the mean time get to know each other. You'll be updated as to the training schedule as we go." Green Lantern looked around for any other questions or issues then made for the door.

Static looked at his two new teammates, who were sizing him up just as thoroughly.

"So." Supergirl said, and she was grinning in a way that made Static think of tigers. "Think you boys are ready for this?"

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

Stars and stones, the world had gone crazy around her. Oracle sat in her private office, surrounded by flashing screens and columns of numbers and the smell of the grease for her wheelchair. She had been keeping track of things for a while now and she couldn't remember anything like this. It was like everything that had been building up was overflowing all at once.

At first it seemed the Flash was at the center of it. He may not have been aware of it, after all until that incident with the Weather Wizard it had all just been rumors. No one had spoken to him and no one had reported any crimes stopped by him. She knew Wally was active from hacking into Dick's email, but he wasn't doing anything more than just running around. It probably showed the depth of the admiration people had for him that his reappearance had brought to light dozens of other hero sightings in the past few weeks.

Meta activity was up nearly two hundred percent. The Lieutenants were surprisingly active as well, even if most of the Lords were surprisingly absent. Part of that was reactionary, they were after all charged with dealing with meta's among other things. That didn't explain why Captain Atom, Vixen, Supergirl and a handful of others had suddenly decided to make frequent cross country trips, to deal with things way out of their normal jurisdiction. Add into the mix, Static's recent team up with Green Lantern, and Batman's activity in Central.

And that was a whole other matter to consider. What had brought Batman to Central and what did it mean for the long run?

Oracle had decided to trust Bruce, but now she was rethinking it. He had taken nearly a dozen pieces out of play with that move, and try as she might Oracle couldn't find where they had been sent. Central, and the Flash had been practically taboo, until apparently Batman had decided to walk all over his friend's memory. So, why hadn't he done anything since then? It wasn't like he had left, he certainly wasn't back in Gotham, but he hadn't made a move to capture Wally or said anything about the women he had in his care.

Her contacts in the resistance weren't having much luck. They knew something was up but with Red Arrow captured they were scrambling. Piper had managed to get back to the Gem cities but when he had heard Batman was in town he had ordered everyone to lock their doors and keep their heads down. What news there was, was about the Rogues not Batman.

The most concrete piece of evidence she had was the argument between Batman and Dick. The camera angle was awkward and with the costume Bruce's face was unreadable. She had talked to Dick about it and he had stumbled through a version of events that only broadly matched up with what the video showed. They had gone at each other with words meant to cut. And worse, only someone who knew them would recognize it.

Oracle leaned back in her chair. She had been trying to put together this puzzle for hours, days, but there was so much. This wasn't some simple case it was a dozen cases that were overlapping and getting all jumbled together. She reached up and with a practiced hand, let her long red hair out of it's bun. It fell down, pooling on her shoulders and covering her eyes. She was slowly getting strung out, trying to untangle this knot.

If only she had a place to start.

Babs pushed back from her desk, turning her chair and rolling down the short ramp to what she considered her living quarters. She put on water for tea and turned on the most soothing playlist she had while she waited for the water to boil. She kept her mind empty of everything but what was directly in front of her until she had the tea in her hands. She hummed along with the music, musing to herself on whether she should cook something or just order takeout. Her eyes wandered around her small kitchen, taking in all the familiar objects. They eventually landed on the fridge and its odd collection of pictures, postcards and magnets.

She found herself drifting to look at the newest addition. It was one of those postcards that you found in tourist racks in major cities. This one showed an overly bright image of LA, specifically the Hollywood walk of fame. The sky was painted a sunset orange, and the city lights were already on, highlighting the couples in fancy dress.

Dick had sent it to her. When he had had the time while in LA, to go shopping for postcards she didn't know but there it was; and the fact that he had remembered her made her smile. Then her smile faded, and took on a more thoughtful note. When it all boiled down, LA had been an exorcize in fishing. They hadn't had anything to start with and ended up with a pile of facts that had turned into what she had now, a big mess. It had started out as just another case.

Maybe, maybe, that was the key of it. Oracle picked up her tea and turned to push her chair back up to her workstation.

That first case had been about the Rogues. They were the ones planning something and that was a week before all of this. Everyone knew the Rogues were based in Central and Keystone. Maybe this wasn't as much about the Flash as about the city he was in. At her computer, she pushed all her active research into a sub-folder and started compiling a new set of data-points.

The data-pad landed on her keyboard four hours later.

* * *

In the week following her discovery Zattanna was walking on eggshells. Hiding her knowledge was suddenly at the front of her mind during every conversation. It was obvious that most of the people in the complex had no idea what was under their feet, but she had no idea who knew bits and pieces or who was hiding knowledge like herself. The only person in authority she knew by name was Hamilton and he was apparently off site for some reason. She tried to fall into her previous routine but every time she nearly forgot, something would jump out at her.

Every action since her arrival had to be reevaluated.

It wasn't that the structure was undefended on the magical side of things it was simply that all the defense spells were focused on keeping things in rather than keeping them out. There were dozens of subtle layers of mental suggestion woven throughout the buildings, keeping everyone content, and dulling any rebellious or violent urges. Brushing up against those spells gave Zee the same feelings as a lazy summer afternoon would. When she came out of it, it sent shivers through her. It was scary how effective the spell was, especially because nothing she tried could block it.

Her background was mostly in the more modern applications of European magic, but she had a decent background in several other styles as well. She tried Egyptian, Norse, Hindu, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Native American, and the one aboriginal spell she knew, and all of them did diddly. After that she called in a favor from an African nature spirit and had it throw everything it could, also to no avail. After two hours of searching through dusty books she attacked it with Mayan and every other central and South American spell she could tweak to fit her purposes. None of it worked. None of it could even identify how the spell had been cast. It followed no pattern she had ever seen before. It was almost alien in construction, and yet the results could hardly be argued with.

It was like the spells were designed to be fluid, adapting to everyone who encountered them and drinking in the results like dry earth. That alone wasn't so extraordinary except for the people the spell was feeding on. with all the practitioners here the spell was getting supercharged, which was in turn being used to hold the prisoners below; and with the prisoners docile it could feed off them as well, reinforcing the initial spell and adding to the reservoir of power. All the casual, poorly constructed spells were putting energy into the air that would be drawn in as well. It was a cycle that would just keep on growing until it created a well of energy as big as any natural site. If it kept going they were going to create a new lay line. The scale of it was planetary in its magnitude. And she was standing at ground zero.

It was two days before Zee could think about it dispassionately enough to send a report to Oracle. Forcing herself to put down all the details of her excursion into the lower levels seemed like a pointless exercise in comparison to her other information, but she made sure it was all there.

Of course then Oracle completely ignored the fact that a new wellspring was being drilled into the planet and wanted more details about the prisoners, and the layout of the lower levels. Information Zee didn't have since she had gotten the hell out of there like a sane person. Except once Oracle had asked she started to wonder. Who would require security of that magnitude, and who had the resources to not only put up such a spell but fill it with those kinds of people.

The question of who exactly was down there rolled around in the back of her mind for another few days. Once her shock started to wear off, she figured that there wasn't really anything she could do about the spells in any case. Might as well get as much info as she could right? Yeah, she was definitely going to end up dead one of these days.

The second time she decided to venture into the lower levels she did it in the morning. The sun was barely up as she wrapped concealments around her and activated her transport spell. With the knowledge she had gained on her previous visit she could bypass the front doors and the elevator, appearing directly in front of the door to the cells.

She had considered appearing inside straight off, but the security inside would be several degrees higher. Last time she hadn't been paying much attention and she hadn't known what to look for. Better not to chance setting something off accidentally.

The walls of her small and still unadorned apartment shimmered into the mists of a place between places. She reappeared, at least to her own senses even if no one else's, tucked into the corner near the keypad that would have opened the doors, if they weren't open already.

Zattanna pressed back into the wall, trying desperately not to make a sound. She had thought that the early hour would leave her the only one around but she had been wrong. The passage was open wide enough for golf carts to come and go, and they were, hauling people in lab coats, technicians, and equipment into the prison proper. Orders were shouted as assistants came and went, carrying clipboards, data-pads and coffee by the bucketload.

A man with a tool-belt headed her way and Zee barely managed to get out of the way before he attacked the key pad with a set of electrodes. This wasn't what she had planned on. Being invisible when only cameras were watching was one thing, but there were too many people around, for it to work now. Someone would bump into her or try to walk through the spot she was standing. She ducked sideways through the door and pressed against the barrier to one of the cells. The occupant seemed to be unconscious, which would make sense; with all the extra activity they wouldn't want to take any chances.

All the fear and tension that had built up in her was pushed aside as the immediate situation took precedence. Behind her shield of invisibility she used a quick spell to change her clothes, sensible skirt and blouse, open lab coat, with a vague id pinned to the collar at an awkward angle for reading. Hair up in a loose bun at the back of her neck and a set of ostentatious glasses, together it painted a picture no one would look at too closely. She added a data-pad for good measure and let the invisibility fall.

Taking quick steps she weaved around the other people as if she had a destination that she needed to get to in a hurry. Every so often she would stop just outside a group of people and mime taking notes on the data-pad or check some kind of numbers. In reality she was taking notes on what was happening around her and the schematics of the area. She counted the cells, expanding on the descriptions she had of the inmates from her previous visit, and noted the number of new cells that were being prepped. After she got to a dozen she had to wonder what had triggered the influx and if she still wanted to stick around to find out.

Then all at once the technicians got a call and they all pack up at once, getting out of there like the place was on fire. Zee considered leaving as well, but all the doctors and assistants were lining up near the entrance and that's how she was dressed. She slid into the line, keeping her head down and prayed that no one would notice her in between wishing she had picked any other time to try this recon trip.

In the next few minutes it became clear why there was so much activity. They were getting in more prisoners. Not just one or two either, there was one for each of the new cells. They were being transported in containment pods, kept unconscious and unresisting. Even so they were escorted by a troop of guards. Zee peaked over her glasses and managed to catch a glimpse of who was being brought in.

These figures weren't like the others. The first time she had come down here she had been scared by the mere sight of the prisoners, but the newcomers looked like regular people. At least they did until she caught a glimpse of the fourth one down the line. That one was glowing with a green light that caused his blond hair to move as if windblown and kept the pod a good two inches from his skin and clothes. Still, she wasn't sure what she was seeing until the last one was rolled in.

Unlike the others, this figure wasn't in casual dress. He wore a red vest that looked like it had built in armor, and pants that were the dark red of rust. Even though he wasn't armed and there were clearly pieces missing from his uniform, the black domino mask alone would have marked him as a crime fighter.

No wonder this place was so heavily guarded, and no wonder Oracle was so interested. It hardly mattered which side ran this place, although Zee had her suspicions on that front. The measures that had been gone too made sense when they were supposed to be guarding some of the most powerful people on the planet.

Zattanna bent over her data-pad, trying to angle it away from other eyes as she outlined who she thought the prisoners were. Some of the others in the line were checking information of their own so it wasn't so strange.

Except something must have given her away because suddenly Professor Hamilton was standing barely four feet away and looking at her with eyes that were wrong. She managed to gasp in half a breath and his eyes went from wrong to full on red and glowing. She was done, no bluffing could get her out of this she could tell, and she didn't have enough time or breath to pull off a transport spell. She would barely get to say two words, if that.

He was moving, shifting his weight forward in a direction that a human body shouldn't have been able to bend. His skin was shifting color and texture.

Zee breathed out the only spell that came to mind. "Dnes."

Suddenly she was thrown back into the wall, held in place by the otherworldly strength of the Martian Manhunter. His hand came up and pressed cold fingers against her forehead. Her mind was forcefully shut down and she went limp without so much as a struggle.

No one noticed the missing data-pad.

* * *

Static stood in the Watchtower simulation room, which up until an hour ago he hadn't known existed. When he had first entered it, it had just been a big square room with panels on the walls that gave off a very star trek vibe, now though he was in the middle of a field. The sun was high overhead, with fluffy white clouds drifting slowly across the blue. An old oak tree stood in all its summer glory off to his left and around him wild hay and yellow and purple wildflowers shifted under a breeze that came down from the west.

Supergirl suddenly shimmered into existence and floated down until she was hovering next to him. "I picked one of the neutral simulations so we could get a handle on each other's powers, and I've got the drones on voice command if we need anything else. Have you seen Shining Knight yet? He said he could make it …"

Static shrugged his mind still on the simulator room. "I saw him earlier. He said he needed to tend to Victory before he came down here or something."

Supergirl looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Seriously? Tend to Victory? That's one I haven't heard before."

Static couldn't help but laugh at that point. "The guy does seem kind of …" he searched for the right word but couldn't seem to find one that fit.

"Out of place?" Supergirl suggested. Static nodded. "I read somewhere that he's a real knight. It's not just part of his persona, you know? Like he got caught in a time vortex somehow."

"You speak the truth." Shining Knight stepped out of the air, quickly crossing the field to stand with them. "I was cursed by a dark wizard who sought to cast me from King Arthur's realm and stop me from retrieving the Holy Grail. Fortune favored me however and Merlin's magic sent me here rather than to the infernal realms."

Static just looked at the man. "You are either completely crazy, or telling the truth, and I can't figure out which."

"I have faced many who would agree, but your opinion matters not. Shall we to business?"

"Okay, how are we going to do this?" Static found himself looking at Supergirl. She had been the one to contact him and plan this training session after all.

"Well," Supergirl brought one hand up to her lips and looked back and forth between her teammates. "You all know what I can do, so let's see what you've got."

Static looked at Shining knight and made an after you gesture. The knight actually nodded back as if being given some great honor.

"I am a trained knight, practiced in all the chivalrous arts. I am skilled with a sword and lance. My personal sword was blessed and enchanted by the wizard Merlin to never dull and cut through any enchantment. My winged horse Victory was a gift from the Lady of the Emerald Lake, so that I might ride to the aid of my Lord King Arthur."

Static found himself nodding as if listening to some six year old's story about their imaginary friend. Then Shining Knight actually drew his sword and Static wasn't so sure.

The blade looked ordinary at first glance, not that he had much experience with swords. Then it caught the light and he saw the runes etched into the flat of the blade. For a moment the steel flashed a little too bright and it rang like a bell struck at just the right angle.

Okay so maybe he would just take the man's word as given until proven otherwise. He would have to see the horse to believe it though.

"And you?" Supergirl asked

"Electricity, magnetism, I'm strong enough to fly with it and I can recharge from a wall socket if I need to. I can also absorb electricity, act like a lightning rod." he shrugged. "I'm less useful out in the middle of a field, but I kind of rock in the city, all the metal."

Supergirl nodded. "So you've got long range, he's a combat expert, and I'm our powerhouse. That sounds about right." She started grinning as she turned towards Shining Knight. "In your opinion then, how would you defend this point?"

Shining Knight looked down at the ground he was standing on, then looked around, noting the tree in the distance and the endless grass. "T'would depend on what I was defending it from, and if I need only hold it back or kill it." He thought for a moment "And how long I had to defend it. If it was to be for more than a few hours or against overwhelming numbers I would attempt to construct some form of balustrade at the very least, otherwise there would be little point in holding this point as opposed to any other." He waved a hand at the surroundings.

"What if you were just trying to survive?"

"Then, again it would depend on what I was fighting."

Supergirl's grin was as wide as ever. "Simulation, Start." She called out, and the room reacted by darkening.

In the space of three minutes the sun had touched down on the horizon, and the moon was quickly taking its place. It was a full moon that turned the field into a wash of pale shadows and soft colorless light. Then a scream went up in the distance and it was like the starting bell for a race. Movement rustled the grass at the boundary of the field, in first one direction then another and a third.

Supergirl was already in the air and spinning slowly to watch as much as possible. Her grin was gone replaced by a seriousness that shimmered red behind her eyes. Static flipped open his flying disk to join her in the air and looked around for himself.

The first of them he saw, he wasn't sure what he was looking at. The figure stood for a moment at the edge of his sightline then wobbled and fell back into the grass. The next one stayed upright longer but even though he was looking right at it he wasn't sure what he was seeing. Then beside him Kara opened up her heat-vision and in the red glare he saw the tattered fabric and white shards of bone.

"Seriously? Zombies? That's what we're fighting?"

"It's a time challenge." Supergirl called between short blasts of red energy. "They'll keep coming in waves, we hold out as long as we can. I've heard the best record is over six hours. Don't worry, these ones can only shamble, runners and flyers won't show up until the two hour mark."

"Oh, fantastic." Static filled his voice with sarcasm but a part of him was loving this.

"These creatures are already dead." Shining Knight said as if just figuring that out.

"That's kind of the point of zombies." Supergirl was definitely rolling her eyes.

"Just make sure you go for their heads, we'll fill you in on the pop-culture later." Static called, sending a ball of chain lighting skimming the grass to connect with a group that was bunched too tightly together. The Zombies jerked, charring where they stood and falling back into the grass with their clothes still on fire. A few more shots and there was silence.

It took a minute for the second wave to start up, but when it did there were twice as many of them. Then in the third wave they doubled again. In the fifth wave some of them started hiding in the grass, creeping forward with only the waving stalks as a marker for their position. Shining Knight was happy to take out any who slipped too close. Not having a long range weapon was making him less effective. Static was fairly certain that would change once the numbers overwhelmed their ability to keep up.

In the seventh round they started moaning like in the old movies only the moans didn't always come from the right direction. Then in the twelfth round, they started getting back up if their heads weren't destroyed. It wasn't much of a problem since the three of them were already taking head shots, but there would be one or two unaccounted for, when the next round came at them. Then the numbers increased enough that one wave of zombies would overlap the next. They didn't have time to rest between rounds, and it became harder to keep track.

Then Static's phone rang.

He didn't even know he had reception up here. He fumbled the shot he was trying to make and lighting scorched the ground in a ragged stripe setting the grass on fire.

"You didn't turn your phone off?" Supergirl turned to look at him, her eyebrows going up as she used a zombie as a bowling ball, sending it into another group head first.

"It's my emergency phone. No one has this number." He fumbled his phone out of his pocket while keeping one hand out to blast anything that came too close. "Hello?"

"Static." Richie's voice came over the line, it was oddly pitched but clear. "I managed to track the signal. I found our teleporter."

* * *


	22. Chapter 22

It was, different, wearing the red. Wally hadn't put on a real costume in two years. Back then it had been his kid flash uniform, which while totally awesome, had the extra padding and armor for when he inevitably lost control and ran into a wall. The Flash uniform was light, that was the first thing he noticed. He knew the fabric was reinforced but it didn't seem to weigh him down the way he thought it would have. It slid over him like a second skin, hell even the boots fit.

Part of his mind knew that his connection with the speed force was subconsciously affecting the way the molecules shaped themselves around him. For the longest time he had been certain that this was a violation of his uncle's memory, but it felt right somehow, and for the moment he wasn't going to question that.

He knew he was out of practice. He knew that there was every chance that this would go horribly terribly wrong. And yet, when the sun crested over his city, the light stretching out over that endless land, it was like the starting gun for a race. He let go. He let go even more than he had the previous night when he had left the party. Speed fell over him and he grabbed it pulling in more and more, as the world froze in a crystal perfection. A moment trapped and held in his hands until he chose to release it.

Wally's heart swelled in his chest and he laughed. He had to; at the absurdity of trying to deny this for so long. He heard the joy in his own voice and marveled at it again, thinking of how Jay and Iris would react if they heard it. Then he remembered that he was already going faster than sound and that set him off again.

He went through Central and Keystone a dozen times each, reveling in the endless morning. People going to work, rush-hour traffic and students on bicycles, coffee shop lines, and paper caught fluttering in the wind, and it was beautiful.

The Twin Cities weren't the same as he remembered them. As a kid he had known every street every corner of every building and alley. In the past two years new buildings had gone up particularly on the outskirts, while old buildings had been renovated, stores had closed while others had opened their doors. He took it all in, memorizing the new layout.

Eventually though his mind focused back on the task at hand. Batman was somewhere in his city, and he had Joan, Iris and Linda. Nightwing had reported that the others were being moved but the women apparently qualified for some special attention. The Flash could search through the entire city in less than a day, but if he didn't want to leave a trail of destruction behind him he would have to keep his speed at a manageable level. Basically, that translated to going slow enough to be seen and therefore be tracked.

Well he didn't mind being seen. When he stumbled over that fact he nearly came to a complete halt. His sudden appearance caused a woman in a gray business suit to gasp and drop her coffee. Wally was back up to his previous speed a minute later grabbing the coffee cup out of the air and lacing her fingers around it before he was gone.

If he had been facing anyone other than Batman he might have ignored the risk and tried searching the city anyway. But it was Batman, and rushing in even with his advantages would probably get him killed. That would be embarrassing. Finally putting on the suit, and telling Nightwing he could handle it like that and then just kaput, dead.

No, this time he would need a different strategy. The problem was, he didn't really have any other strategies. He had just been out of the game for too long. Maybe he shouldn't have asked Nightwing to leave.

Flash let go of the speed he was holding and drifted back down until he was strolling along at the normal walking pace. He was down at the south end of town where the river ran between assorted factories and industrial plants, so he wasn't really worried about being seen. He put the costume away just in case.

That's when he noticed what was off in this picture. The factories out here were automated these days. Mechanical assembly lines and zero emission 0.9 percent accuracy to a hundredth of a degree processes all being overseen by engineers at computer desks. All the old coal industrial factories had been shut down years ago … so why was that chimney smoking?

He had the red back on before he even really thought about it. It took him nine steps to break the sound barrier and another six to find that magic speed where everything fell still. He slipped into the building through a door that had been left ajar, and could feel the vibrations in the air that meant the volume would have been through the roof if he was moving slow enough to hear anything. More vibrations, in a slightly lower range meant that all around him the machinery that looked to be moving so very slowly was actually pounding out at full speed.

Wally dropped his speed enough to see the arcs and sweeps the old assembly line machinery made. Getting caught off guard at this point would be a bad thing. Then the heat started to reach him. Temperatures were one of the few things that affected him no matter how fast he was going. Normally he could run through a patch of heat or cold before it bogged him down too much but that assumed he was already going at a fair pace and aimed to be somewhere else. When the idea was to do some recon in a small area temperatures were just something he had to deal with.

Maybe it wasn't actually surprising that the uniform was helping with that. The molecules of the costume had been designed to react to the speed force; at the speed Wally was going it shifted over his frame rather than clinging to him in uncomfortable places. Even with the uniform he was sweating as he did a parameter sweep and found signs of life heading for the center of the building.

Something was wrong here. This didn't seem like a trap or at least not a trap for him. Even with the factory floor going full tilt there was plenty of room for him to move and every time he glanced back, the way he had come was still clear for an exit. The signs he was following were clear as well. Whoever had come through earlier hadn't bothered covering their tracks. It was nothing too obvious but snapped padlocks and a greasy hand print were enough to tell him he was going in the right direction.

Maybe he was jumping to conclusions. Maybe there was a perfectly innocent reason for this place to be up and running, even though it wasn't actually making anything, and no one was around. Right, because in his life things turned out to be false alarms so very often.

Wally ended up heading down. The boiler rooms were under the main factory floor and that seemed to be where the trail was leading. Wally had slowed his pace again, compensating for the dark and the noise by taking extra care every time he turned a corner. At least that was the plan until he heard the scream.

This scream was from pain more than anything else but there was fear laced through it as well. The voice belonged to a man, someone who spent his days working in rough conditions rather than an office where smooth vocals were a benefit. It was also a scream that said he was fighting, or at least trying to.

Wally spun through the last corridor, his sudden movement spinning a burst of air into motion around him. Visions of the situation danced behind his eyes. The man, a security guard maybe, at the mercy of Batman or one of the Rogues, trying to stop them because he was the only one there to do it. Then Wally was there, and he came to a stop at the sight of the situation before him.

Batman had Heatwave pressed against the wall his black clad figure outlined in red from the heat of the furnace. The situation wasn't completely one sided. Heatwave was fighting back scrambling at Batman's armor with fingers that seared leather and charred fabric. Even as Batman pushed Heatwave farther up the wall, his grip cutting off Heatwave's air supply, Heatwave was doing his best to burn Batman alive inside his own armor.

The gust of wind Wally's sudden movement had created swept over the two figures. Two sets of eyes turned in Wally's direction, and he couldn't decide which frightened him more.

* * *

Nightwing had been quietly tracking the movements of the Martian for a week now. They had mind blowing security levels and the Martian himself was almost impossible to track given that he could fly, turn invisible and pass through solid objects. His prisoners on the other hand were not as gifted, or at least not gifted in those ways.

The transport vehicles might have been converted from old tanks considering how much outer shielding they had, and since they're using a system that had no connections to the outside world trying to hack in would take too long to be useful. At first Nightwing thought they were heading to Bell Reeve, but they veered around it and continued heading north. He had heard plenty of rumors in the past about secret prisons and torture centers, but since no one ever seemed to know anything solid he had never given the theories much credit.

He was starting to change his mind with all the strange course changes and back roads and sudden security checks surrounding the convoy. Anyone else would have certainly been lost in the maze they established. When Dick finally tracked them to their destination he wasn't sure he hadn't been thrown off as well.

Dick didn't know what he was looking at, at first. This place, a collection of buildings that look appealing on the surface even if some of the buildings clearly have the security setup for technical and medical facilities. It seemed to be self-sustaining given how large it was and the relative distance from any city large enough to support it. At first security seemed to be minimal with the large exterior wall and shaped hedges more for show than anything else, but come on, no one puts a place like this out in the middle of nowhere for no reason.

Rechecking his path and assuming this was the right place, he broke a cardinal rule of detective work and started looking for what should be there rather than just going over what was in front of him.

Cameras were the first thing he found, there were enough signals in the air that it was hard to miss, and video took up a lot of bandwidth. He set an algorithm to find blind spots and trace the locations while he set up a scanning program using the local weather satellite. Reading water drainage patterns indicated that the structures extended below ground as well. The satellite he had borrowed didn't have the equipment to see anything more detailed and nothing else was in the area, so Nightwing set that task on the back burner and pulled out his binoculars.

It took him almost five hours to circle the complex, taking pictures of the buildings and getting as many readings as possible while staying at least a half mile from the walls. When he finally pulled back it was quarter to eleven at night and the only buildings with lights still on were in the buildings he had picked out as on site dormitories. He pulled back, using a small cluster of trees as cover while he sent his information to Oracle.

Dick had been planning on catching a few hours sleep while waiting for her reply, but it was less than ten minutes before she had a message back to him. It was short and sweet when he read it: just a frequency number and the encryption key he would need to use it.

Nightwing returned to his headset and was back on his feet before Oracle had finished her greeting.

"You got something for me Babs?"

"In a way. You've managed to stumble on one of my active cases. I need your skill set to help one of my people. You up for a little rescue mission?"

"Fine by me, walk me through it."

* * *

Hawkgirl could feel her wings. She knew they were gone but logic couldn't override the phantom sensations. Thanagarian lifespans were longer than humans. The math was difficult due to planetary calendars and orbital variations for the different planets. still, Shiera Hol knew she had been an officer in the Thanagarian armada for over 70 earth years before her haphazard arrival. Of those 70 years she had had her wings for over 50 of them.

It was something you got used to.

Most humans believed Thanagarians were born with wings. That wasn't actually the case. The Thanagarian culture revolved around wings and flying. It had for millennia, but the biological components, the wings themselves, were not organic, not usually. The average thanagarian, a civilian, would have a pair of wings made of Nth metal and a special bio-polycarbonate that earth was still decades away from creating. Just because they weren't organic however, didn't mean that they weren't necessary. Thanagarians needed their wings in the same way some humans needed glasses. To be deprived of wings was a physical handicap.

Organic wings like her own were a relatively new creation. The technology had only been around for a century or so, and it was still too expensive for most of the population. She had only earned her wings through her military connections. The armada had handled the rest. It hadn't been an easy process. There had been a dozen tests to make sure she was compatible before they had even started. Then excruciating surgeries that implanted the artificial limbs and months of medications so her body wouldn't reject them, but it had all been worth it.

The first time she had flown under her own power, able to feel the wind through her feathers, would be one of her brightest memories until the day she died. Every time she flew she relived that moment.

And they had taken that from her. These primitive apes from a backwater corner of the galaxy had taken it away from her.

All her doubts about this assignment were brushed aside. She had come here and thought that they had potential, that maybe if given a guiding hand they could one day make something of themselves. Superman had certainly thought so, and he had observed them longer than she had. So she had followed his lead. They were cute, in the way a child was cute, not really good for much and constantly needing to be watched but occasionally managing something worthwhile. Except they weren't children, they were animals, and even if a monkey managed to type Shakespeare that didn't make it anything more than an ape.

No, she had indulged in this planet long enough.

Shiera pushed herself up from her bed. While ripping out her wings the doctors had damaged the muscles in her shoulders and her arms were weak and shaking because of it. When she managed to make it to her feet, she was off balance, and had to catch herself on the bedside table before she could get her legs under her.

She knew where she was on the watchtower, and she knew exactly how far away her goal was. It should have taken her a few short minutes to traverse the distance; instead it loomed in front of her like an impossible gulf. Shiera had to close her eyes for a moment to center herself. One step at a time. First, get out of the hospital gown. She didn't have her uniform but a simple pair of sweatpants and a loose T-shirt had been left in the dresser. She had to sit down to put them on and she very nearly couldn't stand up again. Not the most impressive start.

The fabric of the shirt felt wrong against the skin of her back and she used the feeling as pure motivation. It got her through the door at least, and a few feet down the hall, until she stumbled into the nurses' station, collapsing onto a counter and scattering a jar of tongue depressors over the floor.

If she could just get her balance, that was the worst of it, more than her weakness. The cool metal of the wall was a single soft note against the skin of her forehead. She tried to breathe deeply, pooling all the strength she had left for the next push.

The words stenciled out on the cabinets of the nurses' station finally filtered through her brain, listing out the supplies within in alphabetical order. First on the list was Adrenalin.

Adrenalin... one of only four chemicals that Thanagarians and Humans reacted exactly the same to. Her body would probably hate her later but that didn't stop her from pressing her palm to the scanner and grabbing a handful of the double-syringes used in emergency aid work.

The first shot of adrenalin went into her arm about three inches below her shoulder. With her heart rate already elevated, the chemical spread quickly. With one more deep breath she pushed forward again.

No one questioned her presence in the corridors, not that she met more than a handful of technicians. One of them even offered to help her. She brushed him off, not because she was too proud to accept the help but because at some point he would start asking questions and at that point she couldn't lie to save her life.

It took her over half an hour to go from the medical room she had been stashed in, to the hanger bay. Commandeering a quinjet was easy enough. Yet another perk of having the highest security level on the station. Flying the ship herself was out of the question, but autopilot would serve for the first step of her trip. She used her emergency codes to get clearance for takeoff, then cut the connection to Watchtower systems.

No one on the command deck realized she wasn't heading for the planet below them.

 


	23. Chapter 23

Wally was the first to move, though to his own perceptions it was simply that everything else stopped moving. He slid back to the early days, remembering training he hadn't even thought about for longer than the two years he's been out of action.

_You're fast, and that means you've got time. Use it. Think about where you are and who you're facing. What are they trying to do? What are you trying to do? You don't have to guess what they're going to do next. You'll be able to see it coming so just focus on what's happening now, and act accordingly._

Flash looked around the room, noting the heavy walls and the rusted support beams, the boiler that was being pushed to the limits of what the old machinery could handle, metal glowing red as Heatwave encouraged the buildup of heat. He breathed in the stagnant, sweltering air, and paid careful attention to the shadows that sapped definition and depth from the blocky shapes packed against the walls. He didn't know what he had stumbled into, how Batman and Heatwave had ended up facing off here of all places, but just a glance at them told Flash that they weren't working together.

Heatwave was turned towards the boiler, though out of concern or to use it as a weapon Flash couldn't tell. His white and orange body suit had been ripped in a few places and the clear plastic of his mask had been cracked by some previous attack. Even more importantly the flamethrowers he kept strapped to his back had been tossed away, left in a twisted pile on the floor. The boiler was what he was concerned with and what would take him out of the game.

Batman was a slightly different story. His armor was intact, if you disregarded the scorching on his body armor and sticky smell of his cape half melting, half burning from an earlier attack. Whatever argument Batman and Heatwave were having, Batman had been winning. Even so, Flash could see the sweat on the lower half of his face and knew the heat was affecting Batman as much as Wally himself. With another look Flash decided Batman had probably wanted information out of Heatwave rather than just trying to put him down, although now that Flash had shown up who knew what he was going to do.

Flash considered his own next move. It was true that he'd been looking for Batman, but he hadn't expected to find him like this and he certainly hadn't expected Heatwave. What was his end game supposed to be in a situation like this? Heatwave was one of the Rogues, an undisputed bad guy who had tried to torch the city on more than one occasion. It was the Flash's job to stop whatever he was planning. Except Wally didn't really care about what he was planning. He did care about the fact that Linda was still missing and the one responsible was there in front of him.

It turned out it was as simple as that.

Flash slid down into a crouch and the world finally started moving again as he took those first steps forward. Batman reacted as fast as humanly possible; which is to say he looked like he was moving in slow motion. He didn't have to move far, though, to twist and throw Heatwave into Wally's oncoming blur.

Flash saw the Rogue coming and reacted from that place beyond thought. One half-step sideways took him out of Heatwave's direct flight path. Flash reached forward, catching a shoulder as the man came into range and twisted his hips going with the motion and slowing it at the same time, until Heatwave had curved into a lump on the cracked concrete. Flash looked up at Batman from where he was crouched over Heatwave's still tense form.

Catching Heatwave had forced Flash to slow down, so when he stood up, it was at a normal speed. When he spoke it was like someone else was using his voice. It should have been shaking and there was no way he actually sounded that confident.

"I'm taking back Iris and Linda. If you don't want to fight me you'll tell me where they are."

Batman shifted slightly. It wasn't anything obvious, just a shift of his hips and his head tilting down a bit.

"Do you think you deserve to wear that uniform?"

"More than you know. Last chance, where are they?"

"Surrender yourself to the Lords and I'll make sure you see them again."

"Not good enough." Flash didn't know how his voice had become a snarl or when he had crouched again, taking the first crucial steps that set the world shimmering around him.

Then the world vanished in a wave of black smoke that almost seemed to be moving at normal speeds. Flash dumped his acceleration, desperately trying to pull up the details of his surroundings. How far from the wall was he? Where had Batman been? How far could he have moved since unleashing the smoke? It was getting harder to breath with all the heat and smoke pressing into him.

The attack was a sudden lance up his left side and he pulled in speed to avoid the worst of the blow. Everything was shifting around him is swirls of smoke that gave no hint where his opponent was. Flash hated being forced into a defensive fight but he didn't seem to have any choice. He shifted, pulling on a vibrational pattern like a comfortable old coat. It was a trick he hadn't used in ages but the hypersensitivity it lent him was exactly what he needed in that moment.

The next attack came from behind, seemingly aiming at the back of his shoulder. In the moment Flash felt the first hint of contact he twisted, turning away from the blow and striking back. He came up close, inside Batman's guard, and with a burst of kinetic energy he shoved open palms against Batman's chest. Immediately his opponent vanished, thrown back into the twisting smoke.

Only then did Flash realize his mistake. The electricity climbed up his arms, inescapable and surprisingly fast to his senses. His arms went numb in its wake and when it reached his chest Flash couldn't help but scream.

Slowing down would have minimized the time he experienced the pain, but instinct drove him faster. Without any direction to run, he jerked in place, spasming as his muscles bunched under his skin. Around him miniature explosions laced the air as his energy bled over into the molecules around him. He bit down and tasted blood.

When feeling came back to his hands it was the ach of fists clenched too tight and straining to dig through the speed force reinforced fabric of his costume. He was curled in on himself, down on one knee and pressed against something that burned to the touch. No more than four seconds had passed but it felt a million times longer.

Flash was already starting to feel the strain that high velocity induced, compounded by the stifling heat and the smoke that now seemed to be actively trying to choke him. The smoke, at the very least, had to go.

A cyclone was off the table due to the enclosed space but if he could create a backdraft, pulling the smoke out after him, it might serve the same function. Flash was completely disoriented after the attack. He had lost track of the door and couldn't remember any other exits; which meant making his own was the simplest option.

The boiler room was at the back of the factory but thankfully it wasn't underground like some other buildings in the area. That being the case, all Flash had to do to get out of there was go through a wall. He had never been able to just vibrate through things like his uncle, but in this case having the wall blow up in his wake was part of the desired effect so it all worked out.

It wasn't something that was easy to do at the best of times. Trying it from nearly a dead stop should have been something he blanched at, instead, he didn't give himself time to think; pushing at the wall, and using every bit of control that he had learned during the last two years to match that vibrational frequency.

The world, what he could see of it anyway, distorted as if seen through a rain covered window. Sounds went mute and unintelligible. Then the metal and concrete turned soft under his hands, and Flash pushed through as if it was soupy mud. He felt the other side of the wall more then saw it as the density of the molecules around him shifted from solid back to gas. Opening his eyes he found himself in a hallway. The matter in the wall behind him was hyper-accelerating as he oriented himself and raced off intending to loop around and enter the boiler room through the regular door.

The exploding wall rocked the building and Flash arrived just in time to see the smoke clear the room. Batman was on one knee, his cape held up to shield him from the worst of the explosion. Then Flash saw what else the draft of air had done. With the smoke clearing the boiler was no longer choked. The sudden rush of fresh oxygen had lit up the furnace white hot, and at some point Heatwave had crawled over to it, using his skills to encourage the process. Flash came skidding to a stop just inside the doorway, and just in time to see Heatwave grin in triumph.

From what seemed like directly overhead came the sound of cascading thunder. Heatwave began to laugh, the sound bubbling up through the blood pouring from what looked like a broken nose. The Rogue turned to Batman, and his grin was stained red.

"Too late."

Batman was looking up, but at the words he refocused on the villain. With brisk efficiency Batman approached Heatwave and knocked him out. He took out a set of cuffs and got to work, turning to Flash as he did.

"Outside, See what's happening."

As loathe to follow Batman's orders as Flash was, he was right. Flash turned and in a few seconds was outside looking up at a sky that had turned into a dance of light and color. It was like the whole city had been trapped inside a giant disco ball. It would have been kind of cool except that with the Rogues responsible for it (and there was no way Heatwave had pulled this one off on his own) it was bound to mean a world of bad news.

* * *

Roy had long ago learned to place walls in his mind that not even the Martian could break. The resistance would have been dead ten times over if certain precautions weren't taken. Even if the Lord couldn't come in though, he could still put a binding on the upper layers of Red Arrow's thoughts, and that was what he had done.

Roy eventually managed to fight through the upper layer of the Martian's hold. He had no idea how much time had passed while he was out or where he had been moved to, since this certainly wasn't Ted's Gym. Even tiny movements were an effort, but Roy could look around enough to see that much. He was in a white room, clamped into a back brace that had him leaning back at a thirty degree angle. On the wall directly in front of him was a glass plain that served as a window into what looked like a control room. The two figures in the room were talking and apparently they weren't concerned about him hearing because a set of speakers was piping their voices into his cell.

"- during the prisoner transport but that was simply due to your unexpected presence. I could have seen fit to grant you clearance had you come to me but at this time you are not aware of the many safety protocols necessary for holding such dangerous beings as these. Your presence was a security risk, which I took steps to control."

That was the Martian Manhunter, Red Arrow knew those tones even if the form behind the glass was that of an aging doctor.

"You dived into my skull and turned off my brain! Don't try to sugar coat it." the second voice was female. Red Arrow could see her better through the window, a tall woman, pale, with dark hair and a runners build.

"If I wished to harm you I could have done any number of things, as you have suggested. If I was to follow standard security procedures you would be in an interrogation room yourself, however, since your arrival your presence at this facility has been nothing but an asset. I am giving you a chance to assist again. It is my belief that you will do the right thing."

The woman turned away from the Martian. Her arms were wrapped around herself now and she was biting on one lip. Her eyes were looking at him through the observation window, but he couldn't tell if she was actually seeing him or just her own thoughts. Whatever she was focused on, she didn't seem happy with the results.

"I won't torture him, I won't torture anyone. If that's what you want from me you can find someone else to do your dirty work." The woman was flinching inwards even as she spoke. She expected to be punished, struck for her nerve or defiance. Red didn't blame her, it showed she knew who she was dealing with and wasn't exactly pleased with the situation.

Red Arrow took a moment to memorize her features. It never hurt to know who might be sympathetic to his cause and she was shaping up to a prime candidate for the lab assistant who helps in the escape. Red reinforced the walls in his mind and made an extra push to move his head.

The Martian wasn't concentrating on him. It wasn't too hard to loosen the mental bonds another fraction. Not that it did much good. Once he could look around he could clearly see that the room was empty except for the table he was strapped to. There was a sizable vent in the ceiling but the casing was bolted to the wall, not screwed. Nothing useful there.

"You misunderstand." the Martian said. "With your assistance I hope to prevent torture."

She wasn't looking at him, was in fact still looking straight at Roy as he let his head fall back into its resting position. At that point her mouth clamped shut. The Martian in a man suit went on without noticing where her attention was fixed.

"Red Arrow was captured while fleeing after a robbery. Both the partner he pulled the heist with and the device he stole are still missing. The technology he stole was still being tested. It could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, and even putting aside the danger, this technology should belong to the people. Normally I would determine the item's location myself, but he has placed walls inside his mind. Breaking these walls could permanently destroy his mental facilities."

"So, what? You want me to break into his mind for you?" The woman snapped out of her silence. "Because let me say no right now. No. Psychomancy is an extremely delicate art, which I happen to have absolutely no experience in."

"Zattanna,"

Well, now Roy had a name for the woman. It was familiar too, but he couldn't remember where from.

The Martian laid a hand on her shoulder, but she brushed him off and he didn't try to repeat the gesture. Instead he started speaking again.

"I understand that your talents do not lie in that area. However I understand that it would only take a simple spell to make him talk. If you were to ask for the truth, I'm sure he could not say no to you."

She bit her lip.

So that was where Roy knew the name. Zattanna was the mistress of magic on the Vegas strip and if J'onn had come to her for help it meant her spells were more than good illusions and clever sleight of hand. If she chose to go over to the dark side he would probably be fucked.

"And if I do manage to." Zattanna waved a hand in Roy's direction.

"Then we could see about excusing your earlier trespass. I could see to it you were awarded a higher security level which would come with a new set of responsibilities of course. Or if you prefer, I could see to it that you were assigned a full teaching role, since you seem to have taken on much of the responsibilities already. In either case you would be asked to refrain from speaking about the lower levels, and of course you would no longer have the time to travel, as per your current assignment."

The words were spoken in a neutral tone, but Roy could see Zattanna shiver slightly as if she read more than he could guess.

"Alright."

Roy couldn't hear the word. It was spoken softly enough that the speakers couldn't pick it up and pump it into his room, but he could read it off her lips. His heart sank.

"I'll need some time to prepare the spell." This time her words were louder, nearly back at normal range.

"I can give you two hours. I trust you should be ready by then." the Martian didn't wait for her answer, just turned and exited the range of what Roy could see. The sound of a pressurized lock was recognizable even through the speakers.

Roy considered his meager options, then went with his gut and spoke. "Kind of a no win situation, isn't it?" He didn't know if Zattanna would be able to hear him, but if she couldn't there wouldn't exactly be much lost. She clearly could hear him though because she looked up.

"Says the guy shackled to a table."

"Only if you chose not to let me go."

She gave him a look that was half insulted and half incredulous. "You don't have any idea where we are do you? We're currently several stories underground in the smack dab middle of a facility that doesn't officially exist. The only other people down here are either mind-puppets for the Martian Manhunter or prisoners who are basically living nightmares."

Red Arrow let his head fall to one side. "So is that a no on the whole untying me thing? Because if you're not going to help me out here I really do need to start working on my own escape plan."

She watched him for a few silent moments. He eventually shrugged and started fiddling with a buckle on his wrist.

"Are you really Red Arrow?" She asked at last.

"For the moment." He answered, not looking up from his task.

"Is it true that you stole that tech thing, like he said?"

"It was a prototype teleporter, not a weapon, but I'm pretty sure they have it back now."

"Oh."

Red Arrow looked up from trying to work his hand out of the binding. "Look, I don't really care what you do so long as you don't run off and call the Martian back in here. I'm not going to give you some pitch about how evil the Lords are or choosing a side carefully, but what you decide will directly affect my immediate future so if you could be quick about it, that would be appreciated."

Her hands were on her hips now and she was looking at him like he was a problem with a very complex answer. "You seem remarkably calm about all this."

"Not the first time I've been tied up."

"Kinky."

Red Arrow looked up again. "Don't you have a life altering decision to make? Or does flirting with me mean you're on my side?"

Zattanna looked at the door that made her a prisoner as much as him. "Yeah, I guess it does." She left the area that Red Arrow could see through the window and entered his room through a door that fit perfectly into the wall. "dnibnu mih." she muttered, making a gesture at Red Arrow. "So, what now?" She asked when he was on his feet and rubbing his wrists.

He looked at her and smiled with a lot of teeth. "Now we raise a little hell."

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

Courtney woke up with a bump on the back of her head and a stomach that was revolting. She heaved but it had been long enough since she'd eaten that nothing but a bad taste came up. Still mostly out of it, she managed to roll over and fell off the large marble table she had apparently been lying on. Finding herself on an extremely dusty and wonderfully thick area rug, she submitted to sleep once more.

It was hours later when she next woke. Courtney knew, both because the light had changed, and because her head didn't protest quite so much. She managed to roll over, sending dust motes up into the dim beams coming through the dirty skylight. this time she didn't throw up or fall off anything so she counted it as a win. Without getting up she took stock.

She didn't have any broken bones and she wasn't bleeding as far as she could tell. The bump on her skull was still sore and she had a few bruises here and there but nothing life threatening. Her Star rod was a few feet to her left, still tangled up in the wires of the teleporter. She was still wearing her costume and the power belt, so that was something in her favor. She was starting to get hungry, which she decided was another good thing since it meant she wasn't feeling nauseous anymore.

Realizing that she was stalling, she slowly tried to sit up. The room spun for a moment but quickly settled, and she was able to look around. The room she was in was some kind of conference room. The large round table she had fallen off of was surrounded by over a dozen chairs and apart from a few end tables by the one door it was the only piece of furniture. Pictures hung on the walls, the faces obscured by dust and time.

No one had been in the room for a while.

Courtney retrieved her rod and used it steady her steps until she got to a wall. Her head had started spinning again so maybe she wasn't as unscathed as she had hoped. After a few steadying minutes she tried the door and found it unlocked if very squeaky. She got halfway down the hall before she started swaying. By the time she found the bedroom she had decided that letting herself pass out again was the better part of valor no matter how stuffy or dust clogged the air was.

The third time was apparently the charm, because when Courtney next sat up her head was clear and there was no sign of the room spinning. She set out to find some water and possibly something to eat, taking in the house properly for the first time.

Evening had fallen outside and the light that managed to slip in through the boarded up windows was tinged with the yellow of street lamps. The muffled sounds of a city settling in filtered in here and there. Creating watchful shadows that almost seemed alive. Overall the place was a lot bigger than she had realized. She was in an old brownstone that instead of containing apartments had been converted into something that managed to cross a museum and a garrison. There were rows of bedrooms but there were also at least two armories, a machine shop, what looked like a medical area, dozens of trophy rooms a kitchen that was big enough to feed three or four dozen people and a gym that was enough like Ted's to make her instantly relax in the familiar atmosphere.

The place felt like whoever had lived there had just left the room and never came back. There weren't dishes left out or anything but it seemed like each room was ready and waiting to be filled. As if in the dark the house had gone to sleep and the next morning the residents would shake off the dust and get back to their lives.

Given the layers of dust Courtney expected the water and electricity to be turned off but after some experimentation she found that both worked fine. The refrigerator was empty and turned off but there was pasta and cans of soup in one of the cupboards. She ate, then found a shower and somewhere along the way she decided to stay the night before figuring out what to do in the morning.

It wasn't like she could fly home even if she was in the same zip code, which she doubted. Until she tweaked the Star rod so it would fly instead of teleport she was grounded. She could have tried teleporting back but she had no idea what the coordinates might be. Plus, Green Lantern and that electric guy could still be waiting for her.

That thought made her shiver. The battle had been pretty crazy, but there was a chance they could have learned who she was. They could be watching her house. They could have her family. As much as she complained about them, the thought of her family being carted away like some kind of terrorist made tears come to her eyes. She couldn't think about it, could not let that happen.

Courtney shook her head. She had to focus on what she could do, otherwise she would be too scared to act. First thing: fix the rod. Then she could figure out where she was and what had happened after she had been taken out of the fight.

She didn't end up getting a lot of sleep that night. After a few hours she gave up and borrowed a few tools from the machine shop, bringing them into the room she had first woken up in to try to fix her star rod in the early hours of the morning.

She was still working on it when the city outside started waking up and putting on the day.

The day was spent in a haze of single minded determination. Occasionally she would stop just long enough to eat or drink something but she never stopped parsing through the problem in her mind. Courtney was no electrical engineer but she wasn't trying to build the star rod from scratch, just put it back the way it was; with a few minor alterations. Integrating the teleporter had needed a major rewiring the first time around, and if she needed it again she didn't want to have to redo all that work. Instead she tried to work in a switch that would alternate which systems were active.

It was around three in the afternoon when she got the flight working again, sending a cloud of golden sparks dancing across the table. The thing had been blinking for almost half an hour, so the successful cheer she sent up, was in her opinion, totally justified. Fifteen minutes later she had found the door to the roof, which apparently had a helicopter pad, and went through a few low level maneuvers to make sure everything was working.

"Nice moves. They won't help you if you choose to fight though."

Spinning in the air Courtney looked across at the figure hovering over the street. Static stood on his flying disk with his coat flapping and his arms loose and ready at his sides.

"You have something that doesn't belong to you. Give me the teleporter and I'll be sure to go easy on you."

Courtney shifted back in the air. Last time they had met, she had just reacted. It wasn't like she wanted to just hand over the teleporter, especially when it meant handing over the star rod but if she didn't she would end up in a fight like none she had ever been in before. Training or not she wasn't ready for this.

Static crouched, his gloves crackling with power. It certainly didn't look like he expected her to take him up on the offer. She tried to imagine what he was seeing and it wasn't hard to understand why. She was in costume still; it wasn't like she had anything else to wear. He was seeing a fully powered Stargirl. The sparks that still occasionally trailed from the Star Rod probably looked like the start of an attack rather than a short circuit.

Well, better to be Stargirl then to be dragged in front of the Lords without even a fight. She settled her stance in the air.

"And get carted away to never be heard from again? No thanks."

What she could see of his face behind the mask hardened, and she had to wonder just how deep a hole she had just dug for herself.

For a minute he watched her waiting for an attack or trying to judge her skill level, then he kicked up his flying disk and came forward in a rush. Stargirl rocked back more as an automatic response then a calculated one, but it sent her several feet back, dipping down towards the roof of the brownstone.

After that she managed to get her head in the game. Fights weren't about thinking, they were about action and reaction and no matter how much time he spent punching out his local thugs, she had been trained for this. She twisted past his first attack, his coat nearly catching on her arm. In the back of her mind she was grateful her own costume was more form fitting. How he dealt with the wind resistance alone, she didn't know.

The speed of his attack had taken him past her but he reacted quickly and came in again before she could do more than take a stance. This time he was too close to dodge, grabbing at her with handfuls of lightning. Stargirl managed to bring up her staff in time to get it between them, catching the lightning and absorbing it. She rolled backwards in what would have been a throw if they were on the ground, instead he just held on. It sent them spinning top over teakettle, rotating around each other, neither willing to let go. Static was still sending power out crackling through his hands, and the only thing Stargirl could do was try to channel it through the staff and send it back at him.

Feedback rippled through the air. Showers of red and gold sparks exploded in every direction, burning like campfire sparks when they met the unprotected skin of the two combatants. Arks of energy lashed out in thunder cracks of sound. Buildings and sky twisted but both combatants were too focused on each other to pay heed to gravity at that moment.

The explosion that ripped the skies was inevitable. The power folded in on itself and burst outward flinging the straining fighters apart in uncontrollable trajectories.

Stargirl clutched at her cosmic rod, desperately praying that it still worked enough to let her fly. With the world spinning she couldn't tell what direction she was going; not that it would matter if the rod was broken. The small voice in the back of her mind where she had shoved all her fear was screaming "Please, please, please, just let me stop." Her hands were scrambling over the switch that would let her fly, pressing it frantically in the desperate hope it would trigger a restart. Light flickered up and down its length, blue and red then suddenly shining gold.

Stargirl's guts clenched in the familiar feeling of nearly weightless flight. she sucked in a breath and realized that she was staring at the ground about a dozen feet below her and to the left. She straightened and twisted until she was floating upright.

People were staring, huddled in doorways, and stopped on the street. Stargirl didn't know how she had missed them before but all the eyes were certainly making themselves know now. then a cry went up and her eyes mindlessly followed the pointing hand.

Static had been thrown high, bonelessly spinning. For a moment he hung limp at the height of his arc, then his coat flared out as he began to fall. Stargirl couldn't see his flying disk or the trail of power that crackled through the air behind him when he flew.

She was moving before her brain could catch up, still riding the feel and impulses of the fight. Flying was almost instinct by that point and the air parted around her as she shot upwards. She saw the moment that he came back to himself and tensed. Unlike herself there hadn't been anything to buffer him from the blast, it was a wonder he was alive at all let alone already awake.

It wasn't hard to position herself below his fall. The difficulty came when he slammed into her. She struggled for a grip on his coat, but the force of his fall was overwhelming and her own strength was cut in half while suspended without leverage. She dropped half a dozen feet, scrambling not to lose her grip.

Then his hand latched onto her wrist.

For a blindingly brief moment she screamed and nearly lost her hold when the electricity in him lashed out instinctively. He reeled it in as fast as he could and Stargirl found herself miraculously still holding onto him.

They floated slowly down, both suspended from the still sparking cosmic rod. A circle cleared in the crowd beneath them. The murmurs were quickly growing louder, although Stargirl wasn't sure her ears were really working yet because she couldn't seem to put together any words.

Static let go when his feet touched the ground. Stargirl let him go. The eyes were a growing weight on her. Of all the ways to make her introduction to the world this was nowhere close to anything she had imagined. She was nowhere close to ready for this.

Almost of it's own accord her cosmic rod started pulling her higher, away from the swarm of people that she suddenly didn't want to face.

"Hey, wait!" Static called from below, but she was gone, turning and picking a direction at random.

"Wait, ease up a second." Static called again and he had found his flying disk somewhere because he was in the air again and coming after her.

Stargirl wasn't afraid to admit that she panicked. Putting on a burst of speed, she bent over the star rod like a witch on a broomstick. For about twenty seconds she rocketed forward and Static struggled to keep up, then the star rod finally faltered. She dropped, losing momentum and height before catching herself briefly only to have the star rod send out another shower of sparks and drop again.

In a stumbling hopscotch fashion she stumbled to the safety of the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Static said, finally catching up. "You save me and then run?"

"I panicked."

"For which part? Saving me or running off?" he sounded exasperated more than angry.

"I don't know, both? I'm new at this."

"Obviously." Static took a breath and rubbed the shoulder of the arm that she had used to catch him. "Thanks." He offered and while he didn't exactly look at her he wasn't trying to hide either.

"You're welcome." Stargirl offered back. She found that she wasn't comfortable meeting his eyes either and found herself looking around at her landing site for the first time.

In a morbid kind of Irony, she had landed in a graveyard. Mature trees were planted sporadically across the slight hill and paths ran in curving lines between the plaques and headstones. Since it was the middle of the day it felt more like a park then the set of a horror film, but thankfully that didn't stop it from being empty.

"You're not a very good bad guy." Static said after a few silent minutes.

"Hey, I never said I was a bad guy, you're the one who came after Me." she accompanied her words with an accusatory finger in his direction.

"You stole my teleporter!"

"Your teleporter?" His arms had crossed but his gaze, which he had been working to keep stony, faltered. Stargirl plowed forward. "I didn't steal anything. All I did was help a friend and his acquaintance get a machine working, before being attacked by you and your Justice Lord pall. Than _your_ teleporter goes off and I'm who knows where. Seriously, I don't even know what city this is." She threw her hands up and flopped back on the manicured grass. The adrenalin was draining out of her and more than anything at that moment she just wanted to be home where dealing with her brother was the worst thing she had to face. That, and maybe a cold drink. A cold drink would be really nice right now.

Static looked down at her and shook his head in bewilderment. "We're just outside Washington DC."

Stargirl tilted her head enough to look at him. "Great, Fantastic, that helps so much now that my star rod is out of power."

"I'm sorry?"

She shrugged. "It'll recharge. It'll just be a pain until then."

Static slumped onto the grass beside her. "You're a really weird villain."

This time she snorted. "Speak for yourself mister hero who works for the evil overlords." there was an awkward minute of silence. "So what now?"

Static shrugged "I don't know."

* * *

Flash watched the dome go up over the city and tried to factor out just how much trouble was about to fall on his shoulders. There would be panic, there always was in these situations. The hospitals would already be going into emergency mode, preparing for the first wave of accident victims that came with a city wide crisis. If everything was going according to the plans Infrastructure points would be going through emergency checks, making sure phone lines, water, electricity didn't cut out just when they were needed the most. Most importantly, the police would be mobilizing to handle the panic and whatever came next.

There was always something next.

The dome going up had defined the edge of the battlefield. It was probably vital in whatever plan was being enacted, but it wasn't the final move to be made.

Batman finally showed up, carrying Heatwave's limp form over one shoulder. Flash spared him a look before turning back to his city. Flash knew his next move, knew what had to be done to mitigate the damage, he just wished the whole thing had waited another ten minutes before going critical.

"We're not done." he growled in Batman's direction before launching into high gear and heading for the heart of the city. Batman would take care of Heatwave, and beyond that Flash didn't have time to worry.

Moving faster than sight could follow he dove into the chaos. He didn't try to race everyone injured to the hospital. Even for him that would take far too long. Instead the city experienced a million tiny miracles. Glass shards from an explosion surprisingly injured no one. Sparks that should have set off roaring fires were snuffed out before they could cause any damage. Passengers from a five car pileup were found on the sidewalk when the EMTs arrived. When three blocks suddenly experienced a blackout, response teams were there almost before it happened. Roads were mysteriously clear for emergency vehicles. People who ran into the street in panic found themselves back on the sidewalk.

Even with Flash acting as an unseen guardian angel though, things weren't going as well as could be hoped. Responses were slow and unorganized after so long without a crisis, and it didn't take long for the real players to take center stage. Between one sweep of the city and the next the major highways in and out of the city were blocked by glacial sized chunks of ice. While Flash was dealing with the backlash of that, the river was turned into a churning deathtrap as lightning raked up and down its length. The emergency broadcasts that were looping over the radio cut off, the empty space filled only with a low hum.

Then the sky twisted and instead of a million points of reflected light one image coalesced. A face appeared covering the sky, and it was wearing an orange and green mask. The Mirror Master rolled his eyes over the city as if he could see the smallest detail of what was happening below.

"Attention please." the voice that rippled over the city was clearly Mirror Master's as well, although it was slightly out of sync with the image. "I'd like to suggest everyone stay calm and pay attention, because we Rogues have something to say."

Around Flash the reflection from the sky replicated, appearing in every sheet of glass and pool of water. Mirror Master was projecting his image through every reflective surface in the whole city didn't matter if it was polished metal or mirror or glass.

Flash forced himself to stop and watch as Mirror Master stepped back and the focus of the message was passed to Captain Cold. Well, that would explain it. When Flash was last active Mirror Master had always used his power as something similar to a doorway or a video conference if he wasn't projecting copies of himself. This massive display was definitely new and Flash hadn't understood how Mirror Master was able to split his focus at first; but just projecting the images without keeping track of the other end must have been less effort.

Captain Cold had started in on the typical super-villain obey or die monologue. Flash ignored the words and focused on the visuals being projected. There was a chance that the message was being transmitted from the mirror dimension but if he was lucky then they were somewhere in the city.

The clue came from the uneven shadow of light through an oddly triangular window, and Flash was off again, combing the city for the matching shape. He found it 3.2 seconds later in the newly refurbished upper gallery of the Morrison building.

The room had been designed as a fancy reception area for large business meetings, and receptions. It had a sleek kind of professional elegance on most days. By the time Flash arrived the decor had been torn apart. The door to that large meeting room had been iced over and James Jesse AKA the Trickster had apparently pulled the short straw when deciding who would guard the entrance. At a glance it seemed like any civilians who had been in the building had made a quiet exit because there was no one watching in horror or silently disapproving as the Trickster destroyed the potted plants in the hall one by one with something that looked vaguely like a gumball machine crossed with an old west style pistol.

Flash had come through the decorative front doors, around the bank of elevators and up the wide staircase in 0.4 seconds and most of that was making sure the glass in the doors didn't shatter. Out of nowhere Trickster turned and laid out a line of exploding gumballs across Flash's path. Yanking on his speed Flash pulled up sharply ending in a skidding stop just outside the blast range.

The Trickster grinned. "Knew you'd show up when the hothead didn't check in. Still, at least he got his part done right? The wizard's been going nuts too, kept saying you were back from the dead. So how about it, you a zombie?" His smile jumped up a few notches, "Headshot!"

As he talked Trickster had never let his weapon waver from Flash's chest, but now he brought it up the few inches to point squarely at his head. Flash could see the bright blue gumball coming and pulled in just enough speed to step to the left. Behind him the gumball exploded on contact with the wall.

Trickster's grin had turned to a scowl. "No fair." he pouted and held down the trigger.

A chain of gumballs rocketed at Flash, but this was a game he knew well. Maintaining just enough speed to dodge each by a hair he slowly advanced until Flash stood chest to chest with the Trickster and the strange gun was clicking empty.

The Trickster looked up at him, eyes wide behind his mask and Flash took a fraction of a second to marvel that the other man was actually shorter than him. Two years ago that hadn't been the case.

The villain started to stumble back, but Flash had the front of his brightly mismatched costume.

"Hey, let me go ya jerk." Trickster started clawing at Flash's hands but it was ridiculously easy to cancel his momentum and take away any leverage he had with a few small movements.

On impulse Flash released the Rogue. "I'm going to let you go, and you're going to tell everyone that Flash is back and that the next person to try something gets to deal with me."

Trickster looked stunned. For a few long seconds he didn't dare to move, and then he turned and jumped out over the stairs, using his hover boots to escape through an upper window.

Flash dismissed him and turned to the frosted door. It was time to save his city.

 

 


	25. Chapter 25

Getting into the building wasn't actually that hard given Nightwing's skill-set.

Of course that was the upper floors, once he was below ground it was a slightly different story. Nightwing quickly determined that the elevators were out, and the shafts themselves were monitored so that left the stairs (also monitored), or the air vents. Technically the air vents were monitored as well but that was only a heat/motion sensor which he had been slipping past since he was 13. Of course he was a lot taller than he was when he was 13 but being an acrobat had to count for something. He made it down two floors before the vents grew too small and he was forced into the open.

Nightwing slipped out of his ventilation shaft into a harshly lit restroom, and tapped his ear to connect him to Oracle.

"I have your location." She said bypassing any greeting. "There aren't any camera's in the bathrooms, good call there, but you're still reading on the other systems. I've managed to get eyes on everything but if you want any more help you're going to have to get me remote access."

"Right, nearest networked computer?"

"Looks like there's a manager's office two doors down from where you are now. That should work."

"Anything I need to worry about?"

"Well, it looks like the camera's are on a loop but again, I can't trace the pattern unless I'm in the system. If it helps the heat won't go off unless it sees a sudden spike, it's not smart enough for anything else."

"Good to know." His costume would mask his heat signature if the tech was only at that level. As for the cameras, he had a new toy he had been dieing to test out.

Nightwing had made it down two levels and silently knocked out three guards and a lab assistant when the alarms went off. He might have cursed if he wasn't doing the silent ninja thing. He had not done that. Nightwing was sure he hadn't set off the alarms … so what had?

The main control hub for the Facility's security was one floor down and three corridors over. he had been avoiding the area with the idea of keeping the alarms off, but if that was off the table.

Nightwing made for it with more haste than care. He dropped out of the crawl space in the ceiling directly onto one of the guards who was talking quickly into a radio. The man went to the floor in a heap, unconscious before he stopped moving. The second of the three guards opened his mouth to call out but Nightwing had one of his tonfas in hand and hit the man's throat before he could finish drawing breath. A quick kick to the chest sent the man stumbling back into a chair. Nightwing was on him a moment later, the twine in his belt making quick work of binding the guard. The last of the three guards had been sitting facing the monitors, but at the noise he turned and drew his gun, pointing it with shaky hands at the hero.

"Really?" Nightwing looked up at the man as he finished with the knots for guard two. "I just took out your two buddies in the time it took you to stand up. You really want to do this?"

The guard hesitated, the nozzle of the gun wavering. Nightwing didn't wait for him to make up his mind, the moment the gun was pointed down his fist snapped out and clipped the man on the side of the head.

Nightwing took a moment to tie the two unconscious guards up before focusing on the monitors. He had to admit, it wasn't what he had expected, although why he hadn't thought that Oracle's people wouldn't try to escape at the first opportunity he wasn't sure. He shut off the alarm, no need for more people panicking then necessary, then flipped back into the ceiling, making for their current location.

* * *

John had just gotten out of the shower when his ring flashed with a message from the Watchtower. He hadn't been expecting anything, but Batman had yet to report in and the same could be said for J'onn. He willed his uniform into place and took the call.

The three figures his ring projected weren't what he had expected.

The three thanagarians stood at parade rest. They wore the traditional armor of the Thanagarian International Fleet. The central figure wore the winged helmet of a general. The two officers who flanked him were lieutenants given their rounded helmets and the different emblems on their chest plates.

"Green Lantern, I am Fleet Commander H'row Tallok, this is my first officer Creagor and my science officer Parin. The crew of your watchtower has invited us aboard to discuss bringing several of our ships into Earth orbit for repairs and the acquisition of supplies. I would like to request a meeting with you and the other Lords as soon as is feasible."

What was the saying, it never rained…

The Lords were already in a dangerous position adding an army from offworld was not something they needed. On the other hand these were Hawkgirl's people. They could help her. If they did come down to the planet, at least they would be relatively familiar. A curiosity rather than something to cause outright panic. All of which was a moot point. He couldn't afford not to meet with them.

"Understood commander. You may bring your ships into lunar synchronous orbit. I'll contact my fellows and set up a meeting later this morning. In the meantime, I'd like to request one of your medical officers take a look at Lord Hawkgirl. Our physicians have been having trouble with her physiology." Commander Tallok frowned. There was a glint in his eyes but when he spoke it was in a controlled monotone. "Lieutenant Hall intercepted our signals several cycles ago and is already receiving treatment."

John watched the hawkman trying to read him, there was something off, he could tell, but what it was, was eluding him.

The Green Lantern Core didn't have much contact with the thanagarian empire. As a remote operative Shiera was an anomaly, which didn't tell him much about the culture as a whole. He knew about their feud with the Guardians but only in an academic, historical kind of way.

"I see." John finally said. "Then I trust you will be comfortable to wait aboard the watchtower while - "

Before he could finish the feed of the thanagarians cut out, to be replaced by a young technician with blond hair. John had met the young man while the watchtower was malfunctioning; his name was Flint and he was surprisingly adaptable when it came to rerouting power… and apparently video feeds.

"They've taken the watchtower." he blurted out before Green Lantern could say a word. "Don't come up here, they have a whole fleet it's -"

The feed cut back to the thanagarian commander. The science officer had moved forward and fiddled with several dials before resuming her position.

"I had hoped not to start a conflict with the lantern core." The commander sounded more stoic than disappointed. "Surrender now and we will take your council under advisement during our occupation. We have established a blockade around this planet, any attempt to contact your guardians or defy us in any way and we will be forced to take omega level action."

Green Lantern took a breath and during a long three count, thought about all the consequences of acting or not acting. Then he opened his mouth, looked straight at the commander and spoke.

"If you or any of your people so much as flap your wings in our direction, you'll need more than an omega situation to deal with me."

* * *

"This is so your fault." Zattanna screamed over the alarms as she dashed down a corridor, praying it was the right one.

"How is this my fault?" Red Arrow was a step behind her, paying more attention to the bow in his hands then the path they were taking.

"You couldn't have just left it behind?!"

"Hell, No. That dirty scientist had his hands all over my arrows. There's no way I let that slide."

Zee was about to retaliate when they turned a corner and came face to face with three sidearm toting goons. One of them shouted something that might have been a command or might have just been a shout of surprise and the three of them opened fire. Zee squeaked and dropped to the ground covering her head. Red Arrow reacted more violently, sliding into a crouch and knocking the arrow he had been checking. He let fly. The one on the right took the arrow in his left shoulder but he maintained enough control to stay on his feet as he dropped his gun in favor of grabbing his radio. Reaching for a second arrow Red Bumped Zattanna with his hip.

"A little help here."

"Okay, Okay, umm - Peels" The three guards staggered, their guns wavering. A second guard was taken out by what looked like a tazer arrow.

"Peels!" Zattanna said again this time adding a waving hand gesture. The guards went down, the racket of gunfire suddenly shut off. Slight snoring from the guards and the clicking from the radio sounding strangely quiet in the otherwise silent corridor.

Zattanna got shakily to her feet. Red waited a beat, an arrow on the string before he let out a breath and released the tension in his weapon. He started toward the guards but Zee reached out, grabbing his arm.

"What happened to the alarm?"

Sure enough the whailing sound had died at some point during the fight. The guard's radio switched from clicking, to static, to a sudden silence.

"We should get out of here."

"I'm afraid that is no longer an option."

Both heroes turned and found themselves facing the semi-transparent form of the martian manhunter.

"Run." Zattanna yelled and used her grip on Red Arrows arm to shove him down the passage. Zattanna scramboled for the mental defenses that had let her defy demons and creatures from the outer realms, projecting a shield that would cover the whole corridor. J'onn J'onzz was forced to a stop and Zee took full advantage. She caught up with Red Arrow. As he flung open the doors to a decent sized break room. they didn't stop to admire the furnishing, just bolted for the doors at the other end. they were halfway across the room when manhunter phased down through the ceiling. He gestured and the doors at either end of the room slammed shut. Zee still had her shields ready and she shoved them at him like a battering ram. His eyes glowed and he pressed back like an ocean against a tide-wall slowly wearing her down.

Red Arrow retaliated just as quickly to the martians appearance, knocking a pair of arrows while focusing on his own mental defences. His first shot splintered to woodchips against the far wall when the manhunter went intangible. His second was caught mid air by the martian's telekinesis and detonated prematurely. Zattanna started chanting under her breath, something African or middle eastern that came with hooked hand gestures and a sensuous kind of grace.

Red found a flash-bang arrow and launched it to go off in the martian's face but this time instead of simply dodging or deflecting the projectile, the martian redirected it; curving it back towards Red Arrow. The bowman closed his eyes just in time, rolling out of the way and coming up with another arrow ready. This one was redirected at Zattanna and only long hours of practice let Red Arrow shoot his own missile out of the sky before it hit it's new target.

Zee seemed oblivious, locked into a mental combat that she was barely maintaining even with the martian distracted. The only reason the heroes weren't dead was because the manhunter was being forced to split his focus. They needed some other advantage or later one of them would slip up and it'd all be over.

Red tried a smoke arrow but when it detonated the smoke was funneled into the air vents before it could hinder anyone's vision. Projectiles weren't working, the martian had too much time to react.

Red Arrow didn't give himself time to hesitate. He pulled an arrow from his quiver, twirled it between his fingers and charged. He had no chance matching the martian in strength, but he had another tactic in mind. he managed to detonate the arrow two feet from the martian's face, sending red and gold firework trails spiraling in every direction. J'onn flinched back then turned the movement into a whipping strike, shifting his arm into a whipping teticle. Red Arrow couldn't reverse his momentum fast enough. He was caught in a pythons grip, the claw that sprouted from the end of the arm, gripping his wrist so he couldn't reach another weapon. Red Arrow twisted refusing to let go of the bow in his left hand and still desperately trying to attack.

Zattanna's chanting rose in volume and for a moment J'onn stilled but his grip didn't loosen. Then he shook off the mental attack and Red Arrow screamed as the grip around him redoubled.

A black shadow slid out of the vents in the ceiling. For a moment Red didn't care if he was hallucinating because it looked like the shadow was holding lightning and that was just awesome. Red Arrow fell to the ground when the shadow took a taser to J'onn's throat. The martian screamed, high pitched and only overpowered by the sudden echoing cadence of Zattanna's chant. The shadow did a backflip off his fallen opponent and Red Arrow's vision finally identified it as a man, black domino mask, blue arm stripes, and all. The Manhunter's screams had faded into a lost kind of murmur, and he didn't look like he would be getting up anytime soon.

"Thank you." Zattanna said to the stranger.

Red Arrow went through his mental index of super-persons but couldn't place him, despite the annoyingly familiar vibe. "You gonna help us out of here or are you in this for yourself?"

Red's question made Zee's relieved smile turn slightly sour.

The man smiled. "I can't be both?" Ho sobered after a moment. "I came looking for some friends of mine who were captured recently. Oracle pointed me in your direction."

"You know Oracle?" Red Arrow asked at the same time as Zattanna said, "Oh thank God."

That got the stranger's smile back. "I'm Nightwing, master hacker, detective and acrobat extraordinaire. Now since I've already read the files on the two of you may I suggest we find my friends and the nearest exit?"

Red Arrow frowned but Zee stepped forward watching the far door more than the newcomer.

"If they were brought in at the same time as Red then they'll have been processed already. The prisoners I saw were on the third or fourth level, but I don't know where we are now so…"

"Seventh level, west -" The lights flickered then went red and in the distance a siren started wailing. " - side." Nightwing finished limply, eyes on the ceiling like the other two.

Red Arrow reacted first, still geared up from the fight. "Hey master hacker, did you set off the alarms?"

"I disabled the internal alarms, those are the external ones; Someone's attacking."

* * *

The Flash's speed was casual as he pushed open the double doors and crossed to the center of the ballroom that the Rogues had claimed. The walls had once been soft buttery gold but sheets of mirrored Ice had been laid over them reflecting back his red uniform from every surface. Captain Cold's voice rippled out from where he stood, repeating from every mirror in the city until the sight of Flash stopped him cold. Mirror Master took the initiative and shut off the transmission. Other then that small movement none of the Rogues did more than breath.

Flash sized them up. With Heatwave and the Trickster out of the way that left Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master and the still injured Weather Wizard. Cold would be the most dangerous. Weather Wizard would normally be a threat but without his wand he couldn't properly control his power and he knew it. Captain Boomerang was a sniper but as long as Flash kept an eye on him he wouldn't be any real threat. The same thing applied to Mirror Master. As long as he wasn't allowed to pull the group into the mirror world he wasn't an immediate threat.

"Take down the dome. Whatever your plan is, I'm going to stop it."

"Told you." Weather Wizard sneered, "He's thrown in with the Lords, probably already has a membership badge and everything."

"The real Flash wouldn't do that, he was too much of a hero." Mirror Master spit out the last word like it was an insult.

"You're right there mate, but this ain't the real Flash now is it?"

Cold Waved a hand. "Enough, We're not shutting down the Dome, this is our city and now not even Superman can come in here and take that away."

Flash shook his head slowly. "Guess you didn't get the memos then. Batmans been in the city for over a day now. Plus, you know, there's me."

Captain Cold pulled out his gun and aimed it at Flash's chest. "I guess we'll have to take care of that then, right after we take care of you." The freeze gun went off and Flash went from dead still to half the speed of sound before the wave of freezing air could cross the room. He zigzagged towards the wall trying to get closer but held off by subzero beams of ice and boomerangs that came out of nowhere just at the right time. Flash circled, checking their defenses.

The Rogues knew how to work together. In the old days the only way to defeat them when they teamed up like this was to focus on them one at a time. It was a strategy that suited Flash just fine, but who to start with? Weather Wizard was an easy target, and if left alone too long he could brew up a storm even without his wand. Cold was the most dangerous, but he'd also take the longest. Mirror Master was another obvious target; if he wasn't taken out he could get the whole group out of there before Flash could settle things.

A boomerang came out of nowhere and Flash was forced to twist into a pirouette to avoid it. He ended up with his back against a wall, looking over his shoulder at his own reflection. Then the image changed and Mirror Master was aiming a punch at his face.

"Got you now imposter!"

Flash saw the punch and twisted the arm into a lock, dragging Mirror Master out of the wall. "I'm not an imposter." With a slight change in vibration Flash pressed a hand against the mirror and shattered it. "I'm the Flash." He pulled Mirror Master in close. "You may have gotten comfy here with no one to keep you in check, but that ends now."

Mirror Master flailed in his hold, twisting. He managed to get a hand free, bringing it down on the glass strewn ground. A dozen or more Mirror copies lept out of the shards fists raised and speaking in unison.

"Guess the training wheels come off then."

Flash looked around at the copies then down at the Rogue in his hands just in time for him to smile and shatter. The Hero pushed himself to his feet, and he couldn't help grinning back.

Flash took a breath, pulling in speed and sharpening his senses. "Let's go." Flash launched himself into motion. He shattered three mirror copies, caught a boomerang, tossing it to the ground, made a sharp turn at the wall, and shattered the mirror there beroe Cold caught him in a wall of frozen air.

It felt like he was caught in a blizzard. Unable to stand. Pressed in on all sides. He fought to hold onto his speed, grabbing as much as he could handle. Flash was gasping when he finally pushed through into air felt steaming by comparison. He was shaking with effort, doubled over, hands planted on his knees. It took him two full seconds to recover enough to look up at his opponents.

Cold adjusted a dile on the side of his gun and spoke. "Round two."

Flash had to dive out of the way of the blast, kicking his numb feet back to life. He slid under another boomerang and when one of the mirror copies tackled him from behind he flung himself into a spin. The copy barely hung on for a moment before it shattered but Flash didn't stop. Building up a vortex until the air in the room was howling. One by one the other mirror copies shattered under the force until only the real Mirror Master was standing. Captain Boomerang held his weapon ready but knew that trying to fire was pointless. Cold was in the same boat, the air was moving too much to make freezing anything worth it, unless he wanted to freeze the whole room; which the other Rogues wouldn't exactly approve of.

Flash twisted his vortex towards the Rogues but before he could catch any of them up, the Weather Wizard stepped forwards, his hands up. His eyes fell out of focus and the twister lashed to one side. Flash, suddenly in the center of a vortex that he no longer controlled, lost his footing and was tossed sideways. He hit a wall and was pushed off running crosswise until he could break free and reorient himself. The first thing he saw when his vision cleared was Captain Boomerang. The Captain cursed, bringing back his arm, ready to throw, but instead of changing course Flash barreled into him. Flash caught Boomerang's wrist before he could throw and the momentum carried them both to the ground. There was a crackling snap and Captain Boomerang howled in pain, clutching his arm to his chest.

Flash staggered back to his feet, taking a few shaky steps away from his opponent. His mind was racing and he had time to calculate which bones were broken (the forearm, not the wrist) and how soon the captain was likely to get up looking for a rematch (not soon) before the others could even properly respond.

Flash looked at them. He met Captain Cold's eyes. "Round Three." and he was off again.

This time it was Cold who took the offensive. Glittering walls of Ice appeared seemingly at random on Flash's path, forcing him to change course or vibrate through, cutting his own speed. The hero tried to push harder, digging deeper but he was stuck on defensive. Shattered ice particles and steam filled the air, blocking his vision. Any second now Weather Wizard could try another stunt of Mirror Master could call up more copies. All turned around, Flash barely caught himself before he ran into a wall.

Not just a wall, a door.

He flung it open, then followed the wall to the next door and did the same. When he found a light switch he flipped it without a thought. He was already practically blind, why not even the playing field? Shadows invaded and Flash pulled himself to a standstill. Beams of light through the now open doors reflected off the shards in the air creating simmering illusions. In the twilight someone cursed. Cold growled at them to be quiet and Flash zeroed in on the sound.

This time he didn't give Cold time to ready his gun or make oblique threats. Flash was on him grappling blindly for the freeze gun. He felt it go off once then twice and in the back of his mind he registered screams. Cold was fighting dirty, all elbows and knees, face and groin shots. Flash retaliated by upping his vibrational speed until Cold's teeth were rattling and his gun was practically falling apart. Flash got an arm around Cold's throat just before Cold managed to flip them over and press Flash into the ground. After Flash nearly lost his nose to a headbutt he ducked down and held on for all that he was worth. It seemed like an age before Captain Cold slowly went still.

Flash pushed the unconscious man off him, rolling to his hands and knees, panting for breath. The lights flipped on. At some point during the struggle, the fog in the air had settled, creating a slippery sheen over the floor.

Also Batman was kneeling over the tied up forms of Mirror Master and Weather Wizard.

"How do you even..." Flash stopped and shook his head. "You're Batman, why do I even ask? You got an extra pair of handcuffs in that belt?"

Batman tossed over the cuffs and Flash made sure Captain Cold wouldn't be going anywhere. He quickly joined Batman in looking down at the Rogues that were still conscious.

"Just because you helped take these guys down, don't think I've forgotten about Iris and Linda."

Batman glanced at him. "I'd be disappointed if you had, but for now, the matter at hand." Batman's attention was suddenly utterly focused on Mirror Master. "Lower the dome."

Flash hadn't thought it was possible for Batman's voice to get any darker but somehow he had managed it. Mirror Master just shook his head. Batman lifted one heavy boot and kicked Mirror Master in the chest, sending him skidding across the damp floor.

"Hey!" Flash grabbed the Lord's shoulder, he couldn't exactly turn the other man but Batman turned his head to give the Flash his attention.

"This is my city. These are my villains."

Batman studied the young hero for another long moment before he stepped aside drawing his cape around him. The message was clear: it's your show, but only as long as I allow it.

Flash took a breath, settling back down to an almost normal speed and deliberately turning his back to Batman. He knelt by Mirror Master's side.

"Earlier you said the real Flash wouldn't join the Lords. You're right, I don't want anything to do with them, but he's here, and if it comes down to it, I'm kind of obliged to side with him over you. No matter how much I might hate his guts. Now that said, I wouldn't mind I wouldn't mind pissing him off. Take down the dome and I'll make sure you and the rest of the Rogues stay here in Central, outside his jurisdiction. I know that you did what you thought was best for this city. Please, help me out here."

Mirror Master was wearing a slightly disbelieving glower, clearly waiting for the punchline, but Flash kept his expression even, waiting patiently for his answer. After a few minutes Mirror Master tilted his head back, his eyes locked on something beyond the ceiling. He grinned and Flash's heart sank.

"Sure, why not." The Rogue laughed, "After all, you've got bigger problems."

From outside came the sound of a thousand crystal chandeliers all collapsing at once. Followed by a chorus of screams and shouts. Flash pulled in speed, and was outside before the mirrored dome had finished collapsing. Just outside where the mirrored surface had been, were sixteen sweep winged spaceships, hawk emblems painted on their prows.

"Right … bigger problems."

* * *

Static was in the middle of saying, "Well I can't just let you go – " when the alert came in. He paused, pulled out his lieutenant ID and Stargirl leaned over his shoulder to see the small hologram that appeared on the surface of the card.

"What's that?"

"Shh, listen."

Green Lantern's figure was shaky, indistinct and occasionally covered in static but his voice was clear. "This is a triple Red emergency broadcast. The Thanagarian Fleet has declared war on Earth. All Lieutenants are hereby set to level five active status. Justice Lord Hawkgirl is to be detained on sight. Your standing orders are to use whatever force necessary to get these damn harpies off our planet. All lieutenants in range of Metropolis are to report immediately to assist in repelling a major incursion. Be aware, the watchtower has been taken, disregard all orders that do not come directly from Lord Batman or myself." The message cut off abruptly and Static tapped the card furiously trying to regain the signal.

"What's that mean? What's a triple red..." Stargirl flailed a her hands in a slightly helpless gesture. "Thing."

"Triple Red is a worldwide crisis that requires a full Lord response. I need to get to Metropolis." Static stood in a rush grabbing his flying disk in a burst of magnetism. Then he caught sight of Stargirl standing awkwardly to one side and checking the readings from her staff.

"Come with me."

Stargirl jumped back half a step. "What? Me? I'm not one of the Lord's minions like you. This is way above my pay grade."

"Doesn't matter. This is all or nothing, live or die. If you want to call yourself a hero you have to help." He reached across to her and grabbed her star rod just above where she held it. "Besides, you're still my prisoner. I'm not giving you a choice."

 

 


	26. Chapter 26

Batman got Green Lantern's message just as he reached the pavement beside Flash. Flash listened in, still looking up at the ships in the sky. Wally had faced the Rogues dozens of times as Kid Flash, but always been sidelined for the big world ending live-or-die fights. This fight was too spread out for him to have any idea how to combat it.

He didn't blink at the idea that he would fight. He had already crossed that bridge and wasn't about to turn back because more people needed him. He turned to Batman.

"You have a plan?"

"Yes."

"Good, I'm in."

Batman nodded, "We'll need to talk to the Rogues." He turned and headed for the doors back inside.

Flash grabbed his arm. "First tell me where Iris and Linda are."

Batman stopped and turned in Flash's direction. "Why?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I need to know they're safe."

"The planet is being invaded. No one is safe."

"Jease you really are soulless. Just humor me; I won't be able to concentrate."

"You've been managing so far."

Flash planted his feet, crossed his arms and looked into the blank lenses of Batman's mask. "Maybe against enemies I know but this is something else. But hey, I get it. You don't want to tell me, fine. I'll find them myself. Maybe I'll come help you when I'm done." Flash turned away looking down one street then another as if wondering where to begin.

"You'd put the world in danger for two people."

Flash's shoulders went back. "You know, somewhere along the line I think you Lords lost sight of what you should be fighting for. The world doesn't mean squat without people."

Batman spoke without inflection.

"They're in the federal building on fourth. I had Iris Allen-West, Linda Park, Joan Garrick and Sue Digby declared non-hostile persons of interest. They were to be detained for questioning until transfer orders were delivered."

Flash stopped and turned back. "They're really alright?"

"To my knowledge, yes."

Flash took a breath and when he let it out a measure of tension drained from his shoulders. "Okay, let's go."

"You're going to trust me? Just like that?"

Flash was at the door, he held it half open, looking back. "Umm, Yeah."

Batman watched the younger Hero for a moment then pushed past him through the door.

"You two are really alike."

"What?" Flash took a few quick steps to catch up with the dark knight.

"Nothing important. Now, what will it take to convince the Rogues to work with us?"

Flash considered, his head rocking back and forth as he measured pros and cons. "You never coming back maybe? Depends on what you want them to do, but they're not going to want to listen to you. Cold's stubborn enough to say fuck you even if they would have protected the city otherwise."

Batman stopped outside the doors of the ballroom where they'd left the Rogues. "They've been running these cities for two years."

Again Flash simply planted his feet and crossed his arms. "As far as I'm concerned they did more to protect this city then you Lords ever did. They may have been breaking the law, but they kept order. We may have had to deal with thefts but we never had to deal with a body count, thanks to them. Don't get me wrong, I'll take them down if they try anything." He waved a hand at the doors, "but I'm not going to hold a grudge."

Batman nodded. "I need you to get someone for me. Heartly Rathaway, he - "

"What do you need the Piper for? You know he's not really a member of the Rogues right?" Flash spoke over Batman's low words.

Batman waved a dismissive hand. "His contacts will be necessary for a coordinated effort."

Flash waited for more but at that moment he didn't have a lot of patience. He shrugged when nothing was forthcoming and turned speeding into the city.

Searching the city for a person was getting to be routine, and as it happened, the Pied Piper was actually fairly easy to find. He was standing in full costume on the roof of an apartment complex at the edge of downtown, one of his modified pipes in his hands as he surveyed the thanagarian ships.

Flash came to a skidding stop after running up the side of the building. "Piper,"

The pied piper turned, raising his pipes automatically before hesitating when he saw who had actually approached him.

Flash brought up his hands. "Easy, not here to fight."

Piper hesitated, and then lowered his weapon. "I'd heard the rumors, weren't sure they were true. Guess you're really back."

"Sort of. More like I'm trying to fill his shoes."

"Oh, great, the world's ending and we get a copy cat hero to the rescue." the piper threw up his hands, before Flash was suddenly in front of him.

"Hey, he was my mentor, so if anyone's going to wear this it's me and frankly I don't think now is the time to be turning away help." Flash waved a hand at the ships in the sky.

Piper looked him over. "Okay, point taken, which raises the question, whose side are you on?"

"There are thanagarians invading and you're asking whose side I'm on?"

Piper backed up, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. "Wouldn't be asking if you had stepped into the game at another time. I think we've both seen enough end of the world scenarios to know that if we're all alive at the end of this, everyone will go straight back to what they were doing. I just want to know if I should be watching my back. You're a hero, but are you with the Lords or against them?"

"Well, I'm not with them." Flash looked up again, bouncing on one foot. "Look, I'm just figuring this out as I go along. I don't have a plan, Batman does. When I get a minute I'm going to punch him into next week, but right now I don't know anyone else who could get us out of this." Flash shook his head. "He sent me to come get you. He's talking to the Rogues now. Will you help?"

Piper's head fell back and he ran a hand over his mouth. "God. I'm going to regret this."

* * *

"You want me to what?" Flash looked at Batman and the small data drive he was holding out.

Flash had brought the Pied Piper back to where Batman and the Rogues waited. the Rogues were all conscious and grumbling but they seemed to be on board with whatever Batman had proposed. Cold was openly watching the heroes, dislike written in neon letters over his features. Piper went to stand by them. not near enough that he was with them but clearly choosing their side over the Lords.

"Green Lantern will need this. It's the only way to trigger the safeguards." Batman shoved the drive into his chest. "You're the only one who can get it to him, so get moving."

"I'm not leaving my city unprotected."

"Your city is protected." Batman waved one hand at the rogues. He leaned in close, using his height to his advantage. "This is about more than one city."

Flash stared into the soulless white lenses of Batman's cowl. He bit his lip. Flash was the one to look away.

"I'm going back to Gotham." Batman informed them. "With the watchtower taken the Batcave is the only information hub that they won't be able to access. Tell Green Lantern I'll be coordinating the offensive from there."

Flash nodded but his eyes were on Piper and the Rogues.

"Flash."

"Yeah, I'm on it. Just give me a minute." He snatched the drive from Batman and stalked over to Piper. He leaned in, speaking low and hoping maybe Batman wouldn't hear. "You asked what side I'm on, but I never asked you. I may not have been in the game the last two years but I've kept my eyes open. I'm trusting you here. I need to know someone is here looking after my people."

Piper blinked in surprise, then nodded.

Flash nodded back. "Thank you." He turned, oriented himself and pulled in speed. He started vibrating and a moment later he was gone speeding east towards Metropolis and the battle he knew was waiting for him there.

* * *

Stargirl and Static came in towards Metropolis low. Anything more than a hundred feet and they started hearing the strange wind-cutting sound of the thanagarian ships. It had been less than two hours after the call and they were already everywhere, and all of them seemed to be heading in the same direction as the two heroes.

Stargirl crested one last rise and the city was laid out before her. She had seen movies and pictures in magazines, the city was beyond famous. She had always wanted to see the city of the future, but she had never imagined seeing it like this.

There was a battleship hovering over the city. Smaller fighters swarmed around it like bees around a hive. Blasts of green light and flashes of sparking energy dotted the sky like fireworks as blasts of fire explodes from buildings as they collapsed and ships as they went down. There were a handful of places where winged figures swarmed around something, fighters who were attempting to hold them off. The number of them seemed to be terrifyingly low.

Static pulled some kind of radio from his belt. He held it up but rather then speak into it he circled his hand with electricity and a moment later battlefield communications were pouring out of it, overlapping and conflicting even as they gave a picture of what was happening.

"Need some help over here!"

"Have at thee, Harpies."

"Supergirl, give shining knight a hand. Captain Atom east side, I'll cover you."

"Roger that."

"I can't hack the frequency, but I think I can jam it."

"Try to draw them over water; we're seeing a lot of damage down here."

"I'm going to hammer in there." Static suddenly called over the noise through the comms. "Try to give Vixen a hand with that taking down that ship. I want you to follow me in and try to punch through the hull."

Stargirl didn't know what he meant, not really. She had no idea who Vixen was or what ship he meant. How he could just glance at things and tell what was going on was beyond her. To her it all just looked like a mess. Stargirl nodded, gripping her cosmic rod tighter, and focusing on her flight path. He wanted her to follow him in. She could do that. Just follow him in and blast anything with wings. She tried not to think about the fact that she was flying into a war zone.

"Okay, I'm right behind you."

Static nodded, crouched down lower over his flying disk, and put on a burst of speed.

Two of the hawk-men noticed their approach and swooped in their direction as the two heroes passed the edge of downtown. With a clap of his hands a bubble of electricity expanded around Static's frame and they were blasted away, their weapons dancing with blue sparks of power as they fought to regain control of limbs that were seizing up.

Another wave of Thanagarians saw the light show and banked in their direction. Stargirl pressed in closer behind Static letting him play the part of the battering ram, as they swooped in towards one of the escort ships. Static's bursts of power were coming faster now, he was slowing and there were simply too many of them.

Stargirl focused her own power, taking aim at the hawks that slipped in through Static's defenses. Time was acting strangely; it might have been minutes or seconds before Static suddenly veered away and a ship the size of a small school bus was looming in front of her.

Stargirl was passed the point of thought; she just blasted, unleashing everything at once. There was the creaking of metal, the screech of something tearing and the ship tilted in the air. there were word shouted over the din of combat. Off to her left a woman in a brown cat suit was using the outlines of talons around her hands to lash out at the hawks while the outlines of wings battered at the air to keep her aloft. Static had dropped, looping under the ships leaching frame and Stargirl had lost sight of him.

The woman, (Vixen?) attacked the ship again, opening her back to an attack from a hawk wielding some kind of battleaxe with an energy blade. Stargirl took aim and fired off one of her star bolts. Her aim was off, instead of hitting him dead center of the chest she her shot ricocheted off his shoulder. He cried out, and the ax was thrown from his hand. It gave Vixen the opening she needed to spin in the air and catch him in a grapple.

Stargirl tried to suck in a breath, tried to get her bearings. Everything around her was moving, the din of sounds that were coming at her were a chaotic mess. She didn't have a radio like static. The ship she and Vixen had attacked seemed to be scuttled but she had no idea if there was another target she should go after or if the other heroes were rallying, or if she and Vixen were the only ones left.

She moved closer to the other hero, trying to blast at anything that came too close.

A flash of blue and red crossed her vision, and she had time to think 'Superman' her heart jumping before she registered the blond hair and revised the thought to 'Supergirl'. Supergirl was fighting alongside what looked like a knight in s full on suit of armor and riding a winged horse. Stargirl wasn't sure if she had started seeing things, but if she was, she was also hearing things because, even over the roar of the combat and the whipping wind from so many ships and wings she could hear his cries of "Have at thee Demons, Fowl Harpies, feel the steal of my blade."

Apparently Static has joined this new team. Either they have radios or they've practiced together because they watch each other's backs without thinking. Where others are making impressive individual efforts those three are making a real stand.

Static would blast away whole waves, then retreat to recharge, supergirl covering his flank and drawing them in, while the knight on the Pegasus hacked through any that managed to get around her, calling out patterns to the others, so no one was caught by surprise. Then Static would pull himself together and send out another blast wave.

Stargirl swung her rod, clipping the wing of a hawk that darted in to close. She wasn't really thinking, wasn't planning, but she saw a shot with them and she took it. Twisting around she tried to launch herself higher, get clear of some of the rabble, but there were just too many of them.

The main ship was nearly directly overhead now and they seemed to be pulling out all the stops, more of the smaller guard ships were emerging from its hanger alongside individual soldier hawks. Green lantern and another hero, all in silver and using energy blasts, were trying to bottleneck them.

Another hawk was suddenly bearing down on Stargirl and she raised her staff in a block that Wildcat had spent months drilling into her. The electricity sparking off his battleaxe shot through her weapon, making her hands clamp down in a spasm as something short circuited. She was falling for the second time that day, screaming and cursing as she tried to get her numb fingers to work enough to switch over to the backup power cells, and desperately hoping they weren't fried as well.

Above her the airborne battle spun in a wild kaleidoscope of colors. Someone, Static, let out another blast of energy. Her screams took on a note of panic, wordlessly begging for help. Except no one had noticed in all the chaos. She passed the level of the buildings, rocketing toward the street below with no one there to catch her.

Wind, a whirlwind like the passing slipstream of a train. Stargirl's mind gave up the ghost wondering coolly if this was some new form of attack, and she wouldn't even reach the ground. Except she really should have hit the ground by now, that was kind of odd. Then as suddenly as the wind had arrived it was gone and crimson arms were catching at her wrapping around her waist and stopping the last few feet of her fall.

Stargirl's rescuer set her carefully on her feet. She turned taking in all the shattered glass, the twisted dents in the buildings the rubble that had piled up on the street where the top of buildings had been torn away. The street was empty of people; cars run up on the sidewalks and tilted on their sides. There were bodies, Hawks that had been knocked from the sky and civilians who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The man who stood behind her was wearing a costume that Stargirl had never expected to see. Flash stood tall, undaunted by the wreckage, his head tipped back to look up at the chaos in the sky above them. The lightning bolt emblem on his chest seemed almost to glow, shimmering against the red that made up the rest of his uniform. His form blurred slightly at the edges as he twitched, looking this way and that, somehow taking in everything and making as much sense of it as anyone could.

"You alright?" he asked, and he seemed distracted but that was kind of understandable given the circumstances.

"Umm, yeah, thanks. Are you, umm, are you really Flash?"

"That's me. You don't have a radio do you?"

"No, I'm not with them. I kind of got dragged in by Static."

He glanced down at her and a sunshine smile came over his lips. "First world-crisis?"

Stargirl blushed slightly. "Kind of, first anything really."

"Well, if that's the case, then you're doing great."

"Really? How so." Stargirl could admit there was a little scorn in her voice. She was probably the least experienced person on the field, including the hawks.

"Well, you're not dead." He leaned forward, laying a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Look, you're doing fine, and I get that this is more than you're used to handling. In this game you learn quickly that the odds are never in your favor, and never all that great even if they are. Trust me, focus on the task at hand and you'll pull through. Now, think you can help me get a message to Green Lantern."

Stargirl blinked up at one of the most recognized heroes in modern history and found herself nodding. "Yeah, well, if I can. Not sure how useful I'll be. I can't fly without the rod." She held up the Star rod, it was looking even more battered than earlier. When she got a moment she really had to do some work on it.

In a split second his eyes skimmed over it. "May I?" he asked and as soon as she nodded it was slipped from her fingers. A blurry second later he was twirling a roll of electrical tape around one finger and passing back her Star Rod. "That should hold for now."

Stargirl took the rod lightly testing the strength of the repairs. They certainly weren't permanent fixes, and she'd have to be careful how she blocked, but he was right, they'd hold.

"Right, what's the plan?" Stargirl met Flash's eyes and for a moment she almost thought he seemed surprised, the expression was gone a moment later and he pointed at the conflict in the sky that both of them had been keeping an eye on.

"I'm grounded, so I need you to get up there and tell Green Lantern I'm here, and that Batman sent me with information he'll need. Tell him I'm on the old sidekick's frequency." he tapped his cowl.

Stargirl looked back up at the raging battle and couldn't help but hesitate. Flash seemed to notice.

"Hey, I saw you up there. You're stronger than you think. You can do this, and I'll be here to catch you again if you need it."

Before Stargirl could respond the silver man with the energy blasts sent another one of the escort ships crashing down towards the water. Flash pushed her towards the sky then he was gone in a blur of red. She set her shoulders, dodged the outer edge of the debris and got to it.

* * *

Red Arrow pushed the unconscious guard out of the chair in front of the monitors and started typing away, trying to get a view of the exterior. Nightwing set the guard beside the others and joined him in the other chair. Zattanna didn't bother trying to help, she knew next to nothing about hacking and electronics. The last time she's tried to force something this complex with magic she had short circuited her laptop. Instead she leaned over the two men's shoulders and watched them work.

From their little spot in the observation room, they watched a nightmare come to life above them.

It started with half a dozen fighter jets in a hawk-winged style none of them recognized circle the compound, establish a perimeter and unleash a flock of thanagarians on the sleeping facility. In the dark they looked like black winged demons, unearthly armor and medieval weapons raised and ready in a strange parody of a child's crayon drawing of hell.

Unlike the lower levels the main complex hadn't been alerted, and the sleeping buildings were being surrounded without a fight.

"Oracle, are you seeing this?" Nightwing's hands flew over the keyboard, flicking the PA system to life so they could hear the first screams that echoed from the dormitory.

"I'm seeing it. It's not just you. The Thanagarians have taken the watchtower, they're launching a full out assault on Metropolis and half a dozen other targets, Gotham, Central City. I think they're using the Lords threat assessment list. We need to retreat and regroup; I'm working on finding you an exit now."

"No!" Zatanna looked back and forth between the two other heroes who had both turned in their seats. "There are almost five hundred people up there. At least a third of them are teenagers, or at least under 21. They'll be helpless?"

Nightwing hesitated, but Red Arrow turned to face her. "And how do you plan to save them?"

She hesitated, "I don't know," she finally admitted. "But we can't just leave them."

Nightwing's shoulders slumped. "The Lords have plans in place for a worldwide assault like this. The fact that they're even here means that either those plans failed or it's now too late to use them. We're unorganized and outnumbered, and don't know the terrain. The logical thing to do here would be to retreat, and regroup with any other heroes we can find." he nodded at Red Arrow, "The resistance already has the network needed to act under the radar."

It was all perfectly rational, but neither of them had spent the last weeks getting to know the people up there. Zatanna put her foot down.

"No! There are children up there. They need to be protected. And even if that wasn't the case, there is no way that surrendering this location could be a good tactical decision. do you know how many super-powered beings are being held here? Monsters and demons, and aliens and who knows what else, Hell there were nearly a dozen people brought in with Red alone. You let the things out there have them and we've basically handed over an arsenal. Hell, half the kids upstairs could seriously hurt somebody if turned loose, not to mention that we're standing on the first major magical wellspring since Merlin sealed up Stonehenge. Aim a strike at this place and the chain reaction would probably poison the whole planet, that's if it didn't tear it apart first."

That made them stop. Red Arrow just looked up at her as if he didn't quite believe he had heard her correctly. Nightwing looked more serious, but his expression was harder to read behind his mask.

"I can't get you any backup. Everyone who could get there in time is already occupied elsewhere." Oracle finally broke the silence, her voice a crackle from the console in front of them.

"Okay, okay fine." Red Arrow rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "If we sound the alert now, some of them will be able to escape, but I don't know about the prisoners down here. Maybe if we put the place on lockdown? That would trap us in here too though, wait, Can you teleport?" the last was directed at Zatanna.

She started to nod, and then hesitated. "I can, I might be able to get us all out of here. I've never tried it with this many people. I could, I'd need more power, but, maybe."

Nightwing stood and reached out, taking her shoulder. "Zee, take a breath. What are you saying?"

She nodded, and filled her lungs. "There are pockets, outside of space and time. Fate's tower, the rock of eternity. One of them is the house of mystery, I know the coordinates, I could take us all there. It's like teleporting but only going halfway. Only it's an area spell. to grab everyone…" she glanced at the screens.

"You'd pull the thanagarians in too."

"Yeah, and that's if I could get the power together."

Nightwing looked at the screens. "I say do it. If nothing else it'd stop them from calling in reinforcements."

Red Arrow nodded. "Agreed, what do you need?"

Zatanna hesitated, then her expression hardened. "Set off the alarms, I need everyone awake. The prisoners too. Just FYI, The house won't let just anyone in so I don't know how well this will work." Nightwing and Red Arrow were already battering the keyboards following her direction without hesitation.

A blaring alarm rang through the complex above and below. People leapt from their beds, and screams joined the alarms as the students saw the invaders. A hundred smaller defense spells sprang to life on the screens and half a dozen people who Zatanna remembered teaching simply vanished, teleporting themselves and those around them to some distant and hopefully safer place.

A red light shrouded the three heroes as the rows and rows of prisoners were unleashed from their bonds. Before the camera was destroyed there was lightning a flicker of green, and a rumbling of the earth that didn't stop when they lost visual.

"Patch me into the PA." Zee screamed over the rumbling. A green light flashed and she grabbed the nearest microphone. "This is Zatanna. I can get us out of here but I need the power to do it. Joint spell on my mark."

On the screens dozens of half trained mages looked up at the familiar voice. Parents grabbed children, in the dorms, older students backed into groups, clasping hands in desperation.

Under her breath Zatanna started chanting. Her hands wove patterns through the air, then swept out to her sides encompassing the whole complex. She sucked in a breath and nodded at Nightwing.

"Now." The intercom sent his voice through a dozen buildings, and hundreds of voices answered him, each chanting a variation on a common theme.

Zatanna closed her eyes and called out in her strange backwards language. the air around her rippled, shimmered and started to glow. She lifted off the ground, her chanting never faltering, as the world started to flicker around them.

Red Arrow let out a soft curse and Nightwing couldn't help but silently agree.

Zatanna's chanting faltered, the world flickering violently. She was sweating, her skin pale, and for a moment the world seemed to break. Then a green glow shrouded her and her cadence steadied.

She screamed out the last words and bright yellow gold, light replaced the flashing red.

Zatanna fell to the polished floor of a gilded ballroom, unconscious before she hit. Red Arrow and Nightwing found themselves on their feet, weapons in hand as all around them the space was filled with friend and foe alike.

There were cries and snarls, and the flapping of wings as the hawks took to the air to circle the glittering chandeliers. Men and monsters faced each other, the sudden change of scene barely causing a pause in the battle.

"Okay, now it's our turn." Red Arrow growled an arrow appearing in his hand in his own brand of magic. Nightwing's hard grin was enough of an answer.

 

 


	27. Chapter 27

Nightwing stepped into the throng of people. There were more students than Thanagarians especially given that most of the latter had taken to the air, but with the panic that was spreading it was almost worse. A step behind him Red Arrow was sending shaft after shaft towards the ceiling, but Nightwing couldn't split his focus enough to see if he was doing any damage.

"Stay Calm. We're here to help you." as Nightwing shouted one of the hawks fell out of the sky. "Stay calm and move toward the walls." he added pushing forward against the tide that had dived away from the spot of the fallen. No one was hurt though one boy, maybe fourteen years old, was shaking as a shield charm crumbled from his wrist.

Nightwing checked the kid over and pulled him to his feet. By that point the general crowd had noticed the large arching doors leading into the rest of the house of mystery, and were swarming them.

Red Arrow was the only force attacking the hawks, and it hadn't taken long for them to notice. A group of them was mobbing him barely being held off by his array of trick arrows. That left the rest of them free to mob the crowd.

Screams echoed as they lashed down with lances and whips. People fell to their knees, flinging themselves down in an attempt to escape. Nightwing pushed the kid behind him and sent a pair of birdarangs flying. He was still screaming at the crowd, trying to give orders that no one could hear. Another hawk fell, lashing out as its wing was hit. It landed in the crowd and this time they weren't so lucky. There were screams, and the flow of the crowd changed again as desperate people tried to flee.

A red blur was suddenly flickering through the crowd. Nightwing had a brief moment to think "Wally?" before he was distracted by the curtain of people in the doorway going limp and falling to the floor. Another birdarang was in his hand before he could even see a target. Then a cloud of sparkling dust filtered in surrounding a figure in a tight brown uniform and a gas mask. He threw His strike was perfectly on target but at the last minute a man in a gold and black hood and cape placed himself in front of the shot, knocking it aside. A second blur, this one red and blue, flickered into the room and stopped beside him.

"Hey ease up, we're on your side." Jesse quick said before she once more blurred into motion.

It only took that for Nightwing to connect the dots. Jesse Quick AKA Liberty Bell, her boyfriend Rick AKA Hourman, Sandman. They were all Ex-Heroes who had been captured at Wally's Party.

Nightwing turned back to Red Arrow about to assist but Jesse was already on it, retrieving his arrows and using her speed to create updrafts that the thanagarians didn't know how to handle.

With the added help it was a simple matter to wrap up the rest of the fight. Sandman had merely put the crowd to sleep, so there was no danger on that front.

Jay Garrick Slid to a stop by their group a minute or so after they managed to wrap things up. "Everything sorted here?"

Nightwing nodded. "Yeah, thanks for the assist."

Jay tipped back his silver mercury style helmet. "No trouble son. Wildcat and Green Lantern should be just finishing up with the other group. Now I don't suppose any of you know what's happening? The last thing I remember it was a summer afternoon and I was about to ask Wally for another burger."

Jesse and Rick nodded their agreement.

Nightwing looked down at Red Arrow who was tending to the still unconscious Zatanna. "That's a little harder to explain. Better hook up with anyone else before we go into it. There's a lot to tell."

* * *

Wally hated aerial fights. He wasn't afraid of heights and he certainly knew more about aerodynamics than most, but it wasn't like he had wings. Interesting fact, there was no way to change your velocity in the air without wings.

So he was stuck on the ground while everyone else duked it out. Oh sure he did his part. There wasn't a single civilian left in this part of the city and everyone who fell out of the sky, friend and foe alike found themselves safely on the ground. Sure some of them ended up in handcuffs but at least they weren't falling to their deaths.

He caught rubble, stabilized buildings where he could, and above all he watched the sky.

Moving at superspeed gave Flash a unique perspective. He could see every attack as it happened, every wave, offensive and defensive. He wasn't a tactical genius, not like Batman or Nightwing, but he had an advantage the others didn't. With his speed he could take as much time as he could ever want to piece together strategies and predict the outcome of different tactics. Most people wouldn't have time to think in a fight like this, Flash did.

Flash watched as Stargirl fought her way up through the sky. She had talent, even if she didn't have much experience. if they all made it out of this he promised himself, he'd make sure she got all the help she needed to become one of the greats.

Most of the others were doing well. Static's trio had clearly worked together before, possibly against similar odds, though when that might have been, Flash couldn't guess. Captain Atom and Green Lantern were taking the brunt of the strike. They both had military training and similar weapons at their disposal. They were able to watch each other's backs without having to really think about it.

It was the others who were faltering. Vixen had been injured, blood running down her right arm even as she refused to give in. Unlike the others she was fighting alone surrounded by hawks and barely holding her own.

Then there was the Ray. When bouncing around as a beam of light he was nearly impossible to hit, but he also couldn't do any damage of his own. He had managed to knock out a good portion of their communications but he had to slow down to act and when he did, he was vulnerable. Add in the fact that he was nearly as untrained and untested as Stargirl, and fighting on his own. Unless he got some backup he was going to slip up sooner or later and it would put him out of the game. Unfortunately Flash was about the only one on the field who could keep up with him.

Mr Miracle had joined the fight but he was an escape artist not a brawler. Fire was holding her own but the hawk's energy weapons seemed to be doing more damage than she could easily shake off. None of them were coping well with the numbers they were fighting. Apart from Green Lantern none of them had the kind of experience they needed to survive this kind of fight.

Flash desperately hopes Batman's plans would be able to turn the tide here because they needed something to give them an advantage before it was too late.

Then a Lucky shot too Captain Atom out of the fight. One of the Hawks managed to slip in close enough to cut a stripe in his containment suit. On anyone else it would have been nothing, just a scrape, but Captain Atom was living energy, a nuclear explosion in a bottle. when his suit was torn open the temperature in the air above the battlefield went up by at least five degrees. The shockwave alone sent half the fighters on the field staggering back and trying to stay in the air.

Captain Atom didn't hesitate. He shot skyward, entering the atmosphere where the nuclear energy would do less damage. Even at that distance the explosion, when it came was enough to rock Flash back on his heels.

It was a turning point.

Green Lantern was forced to go on the defensive with Captain Atom to watch his back, and without the two of them working to draw the enemy's main fire, more pressure was put on everyone else.

Vixen was the next to fall. She was double teamed by three hawks that came at her all at once, and while she managed to take down the first of them the second caught her off guard. She lashed out and managed to make him retreat only for the third to grab her from behind. Half the battlefield heard her yell. "Elephant." and saw them plummet towards the ground.

Flash was immediately there beneath them, for what little good it would do. As long as Vixen was conscious her powers would stay active. They hit the ground together and neither would have survived it if Flash hadn't grabbed them and got them to the medics seconds later. The hawk was likely beyond help but Flash could at least hope for Vixen.

Flash didn't see Ray go down, but he heard the screech of feedback and was immediately searching for a falling form.

A flash of green caught his attention instead. The Lantern was doing the impossible, driving his way towards the main Thanagarian vessel, without backup or strategy. His ring drove a hole in their defenses, cutting down the streams of fighters they threw at him. even when one of them managed to get close, he brushed off their attacks and his own injuries as if this was no harder or more stressful than his daily workout.

His constructs appeared and vanished in flashes of green light, men and beasts and weapons, each a perfect reflection of his will to win. His precision was incredible. Each attack a string of tiny movements, the absolute maximum effect for minimal effort.

That was When Flash realized the truth.

The haunting echo of an unearthly voice filtering through the battlefield cacophony.

**WARNING. POWER LEVELS APPROACHING ZERO.**

"No." Flash whispered and grabbed at his speed. He raced for the high ground trying to get as close as he could, see as much as possible.

Stargirl was faltering, she had fallen back caught by Supergirl, and was now helping Static's group fight off the overwhelming opponents, still looking for an opening to get to Green Lantern. She waved a hand in his direction as she spoke to Supergirl.

Green Lantern just kept going, pressing forward, until by chance or fate he got a clear shot at the distantly floating command ship. The beam was white hot and thin as a pencil, condensing the power of a star into a single green beam.

The command ship rippled, folding in on itself then exploded, fragmenting into chunks.

**WARNING POWER LEVELS 04%**

Green Lantern took a breath, ready to rally his people in the shocked aftermath, and the strike fell.

**GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 2814 DECEASED.**

**SCANNING SECTOR FOR SUITABLE REPLACEMENT.**

The lifeless form of John Stuart was momentarily caught in a bubble of green energy, before a shard separated itself. The ring hovered over his form for a fragment of time that no one but Flash would have been able to measure. Then it streaked west. Flash put any rational thought on hold and chased after it.

* * *

The four heroes remaining on the battlefield watched their leader fall. Behind him the single largest ship in the armada cracked like an egg.

"Slag." Static muttered under his breath and Stargirl whimpered in agreement. The ring glittered for a moment then vanished like the flare of a shooting star.

Stargirl's hands were white on her staff, and she was finding it hard to breath. The order, when it came, was welcome. Anything to avoid thinking about what had just happened.

"Cover me." Supergirl called, and in a blur of her blue cape she was diving down to catch John Stuart's limp form from the air. As she pulled up the first of the hawks started rallying, attacking her while she was still on her own.

Stargirl fired off a pair of bolts, as Static, beside her unleashed his lightning on them.

Supergirl dodged around the stunned hawks coming up beside Shining Knight and laying John Stuart's body across his saddle.

"Is he?"

"He doesn't have a pulse, but we're not just going to let him fall." Supergirl cut across the question, taking charge. "Defensive formation. We're going to make a fighting retreat, and regroup with, with the other heroes, whoever's left." She made sure his form wasn't going to slip off, and then turned back to the enemy.

They had been surrounded, ranks of Thanagarians, hovering above and around them, forcing them down, with battering wings and taunting strikes. Stargirl tried to fend them off with her starbolts and her staff. Static threw out wide strikes that forced back whole flights of the enemy. Supergirl was everywhere pushing herself faster, until her movements were a blur. It made her a target. Even with her enhanced strength and speed she simply couldn't' throw them all off, and unlike the others, she couldn't stick to long distance.

They were forced lower and lower, until Shining Knight had his horse land on an open stretch of pavement between a set of destroyed buildings. Static was beside him in a moment, nearly falling to his knees as he stepped off his flying disk. His blasts were getting smaller and farther between as he slowly ran out of power. Stargirl floated down beside him her staff held defensively. Her weapon was starting to spark at odd times and if she hadn't been wearing gloves she might have dropped it more than once.

None of them said anything, none of them panicked or tried to run, but each of them knew the already slim odds were fading to zero.

Then a shrill whistle cut through the beating of wings and clash of weaponry. As one the hawks pulled back disengaging to form a perimeter around the last of the heroes. Slowly they parted to reveal two winged figures, a man and woman each with the plumed helmets that marked their rank.

"Traitorous witch." Shining Knight snarled, and a moment later the others caught his meaning. The woman, though her red hair was covered and her body was now grafted into Nth metal armor that covered her chest, shoulders and upper arms, was Shayera Hol, Hawkgirl. She looked to the man beside her, deferring to her superior. Seemingly completely indifferent to the plight of the heroes.

"I am Commander H'row Tallok of the Thanagarian Armada. I hereby claim you as prisoners of war, surrender yourselves or be killed here and now, the honor of your names forfeit and forgotten."

Static started to open his mouth, a quick comeback on his lips, but Supergirl grabbed his arm. She looked at Shining Knight, a silent agreement passing between them.

"Alright." Supergirl's voice wasn't loud but it never the less seemed to echo over the battlefield. "We're done. You win.

* * *


	28. Chapter 28

Kyle Rayner stood by the open windows of his small studio apartment, and looked at the sky. There was something happening out over the harbor. He didn't exactly have a good view but he could see enough to know that whatever was happening wasn't pretty.

It was like the elements were fighting each other. A dark shape up in the clouds sent out clouds of dark figures that descended on the boiling waters. The water almost seemed to be fighting back, waves and waterspouts lashing out to spear the sky. Lightning flashed and Kyle could see shapes outlined between sea and sky, Titans and monsters straight out of some greek epic.

Kyle itched for his pencils, wished he could get a better look. Some part of him knew that whatever was happening would have harsh repercussions, but that didn't stop his fingers from twitching or his mind from running through all the possibilities. He leaned further out the window, holding onto the frame and squinting.

He heard the whistle of something coming from the opposite direction a second before the voice echoed through his mind.

**KYLE RAYNER OF EARTH**

**YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO OVERCOME GREAT FEAR**

**WELCOME TO THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS**

Kyle turned in time to see the green comet come shooting straight for him. With a yelp, he twisted back into his apartment, only for the light to follow him through the window. He threw up his hands in a subconscious gesture of defence. There was a flash of green, a thrill of power over and through him, then a slightly expectant silence settled over the room.

Kyle blinked and looked around. Nothing had changed from a few minutes apartment still looked just as haphazardly messy as ever, so what the hell?

Then a whirlwind came to life around him, settling almost immediately, as a figure in red and gold….

"Holy crap, you're the Flash."

"Yeah, and you're the new Green Lantern, congratulations."

…

"Umm, what?"

Flash stepped forward, holding out his hand. Kyle took it and started to shake but Flash turned his hand over so the ring on his middle finger was clearly visible. Flash tapped it, then gestured at the rest of him. Only then did Kyle realize he'd been the victim of an unintended makeover.

"What the…?" He turned slipping into the bathroom and looking at himself in the mirror above the sink. "I can't be Green Lantern. John Stewart is Green Lantern. Why do I have a mask?"

Flash leaned against the doorframe. "John Stewart is dead. The ring is programed to seek out a replacement. We're just lucky that someone on earth was qualified. I don't mean to pressure you but the planet is being invaded." He paused briefly. "And I don't know about the mask. I think Stewart changed the standard uniform."

"I can change the uniform?"

Flash crossed his arms, still leaning against the wall, though he looked more amused than angry. "Thats what you got out of that?"

"What? I'm an artist. Besides, Green Lantern or not it's not like I can help. I have no idea how to work this thing." He waved the hand holding the ring and it sent out a few random sparks. "I'm not some hero."

"You are now." Flash stepped forward, holding up a hand when Kyle made to protest. "That ring makes you one of the most powerful heroes on this planet. I know you don't have any training but, wait, you said you were an artist?"

Kyle nodded.

"Then you may have more of a chance then you think. Look, my mentor was friends with the first guy to wield that ring. I know a bit about it. I may be able to give you a crash course if you're willing to trust me."

Kyle looked down at the ring, and the standard Green Lantern uniform he was wearing. "God, I must be crazy. Yes, I trust you."

"No fear. It's kind of a Lantern thing." Flash slapped him on the back.

Kyle looked up at him, preparing to ask another question when the building shook. Suddenly Flash was at the window leaning out as Kyle had been earlier.

"Not good. It looks like they've pushed Aquaman towards the shore."

"That's Aquaman? Wow, um, no offence or anything but please tell me you have some kind of plan here."

Flash glanced back at the newest lantern. "Nope not really. Batman had a plan but it had something to do with the watchtower and John Stewart. With him out of the picture I don't know if that plan will still work."

"Well, can't you just call Batman and ask?"

"No, I've been trying. His frequency has gone dead, but… there may be someone else." Flash tapped at his cowl, adjusting something hidden in the lightning bolt over one ear. "Nightwing, come in. This is Flash do you read?"

There was a tense moment where the only response was the crackle of static. Then a calmly mechanical and somehow feminine voice came through the connection. "Flash, can you read me? This is Oracle please respond."

"Oracle? Glad to hear from you and all but where's Nightwing?"

"Nightwing, Red Arrow and one of my agents, Zatanna were working on infiltrating the Martian Manhunter's base when the attack started. The whole complex has gone dark. Zatanna was trying to teleport them to a safehouse and now they're off the grid. I've been trying to monitor the whole scope of the invasion. We're losing ground everywhere. Where are you?"

"Did you see Stewart go down? Yes, of course you did. I went after the ring. I'm in Coast City. I found the new lantern but he's going to need a crash course in ring-slinging before we can join the fight."

"Understood. I need you to fall back."

"Umm, Oracle, can you repeat that? I'm not sure I copy."

"Metropolice has fallen. Gotham is completely overrun. I'm cut off from Central and Keystone; whatever you did to bring the dome down, it didn't hold. The Thanagarians can't seem to get through but neither can I. They've overrun the watchtower and are making siege on Superman's fortress of solitude. Moreover the Lords seem to be gone. Green Lantern you know about. J'onn was at the Cadmus Complex, but as I said, that's gone dark. I can't get anything, even off the satellites. I just can't find Batman. There are still battles being fought but we're being overrun on all fronts. I'm telling everyone to fall back, regroup at a defensible location and come up with a viable strategy."

"Where? There are no defensible locations left. None that they don't know about?" Flash's hands came up spinning through the air, in hopeless, aborted gestures. He glanced at Kyle, and forced himself to slow down. "Sorry, where are we meeting up."

"With Central cut off our best chance is Star City. I'm calling in a lot of favors with the resistance. 108th and Grant in the warehouse district. Think you can make it?"

"We'll be there. Flash out." He cut the communication and rocked back on his heels, glancing up at the ceiling before turning back to the new Green Lantern. "Last chance to back out."

"I thought you needed a Lantern."

"We do, but you can relinquish the ring, pass it on to someone else. I mean, from what I understand a new Green Lantern gets a little training before they're thrown into the fire. This doesn't have to be your problem."

Green Lantern had his hands on his hips, unconsciously taking one of the classic superhero poses. "Hey, This is my planet too. Of course it's my problem. Besides I can't just shove this off on someone else, what if the next candidate was from Mars or Alpha Centauri or something. If you want me, I'm in."

Flash nodded. "Thank you. Now, as I see it, there are two ways we can get to Star City. We can either take off the masks and try to slip past the Hawks as civilians."

"Won't that mean revealing your identity?"

Flash waved off the interruption. "We've got bigger problems. The other option is going the fast way. I can outrun their ships if you think you can control the ring enough to follow me."

Green Lantern looked down at his ring. "Well, I guess now's as good a time to test this thing out as any. What do I do first."

Flash paused, and Green Lantern saw his expression flash through half a dozen expressions. "First you need to charge the ring I think. Hal, used to be able to just summon his power battery."

Green Lantern blinked at Flash. "O-kay, how do I do that?"

Flash shrugged. "I actually have no idea. The ring works off willpower, if you visualize and will it to happen…"

The new Green Lantern waited but Flash just shrugged. He looked down at the ring, his forehead wrinkling in concentration. "What does it look like?"

"Kind of like one of those old train lanterns, all green, and glowing inside, but not really casting any light."

Kyle's eyes lost focus becoming introspective. The ring flickered, then pulsed. the air in front of them lit up as if someone was outlining a shape in the air. The lines changed subtly, altering the shape and curve, until Flash grabbed Kyle's shoulder.

"There, that's it. Just a little rounder and-"

A sudden green flash lit up the room and Green Lantern found himself holding his power battery.

"Awesome, now we're in business. Umm, how do I charge this thing." Green Lantern set the battery down on his coffee table and glanced at the ring again.

"That part I can help you with. Press the ring to the center of the battery and repeat after me. In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night, No Evil Shall Escape My Sight, Let Those who Worship Evil's Might Beware My Power, Green Lantern's Light."

The newest lantern glanced up at Flash. "Really?"

Flash shrugged. "I didn't come up with it."

"Okay then." He looked down at the ring on his hand, then pressed it to the battery, recited the oath, and was bathed in green light. "Wow, that was, wow."

"Looks like you're getting the hang of it. Think you can try flying?"

"Right now? Hell, Yeah. I feel like I could fly to the moon and back."

"You might just get the chance." Flash nodded towards the window. "Let's start with something a little smaller."

A crackle of energy lit up the room as Green Lantern cloaked himself in power. "Star City right? Try to keep up." Then he was gone, shooting out through the window and across the sky.

Flash smiled. "Cocky, They don't call me the fastest man alive for nothing."

* * *

Stargirl was marched into the prison ship with the others. They were separated, processed. In all honesty they didn't seem to know what to do with her. A few of her guards talked for a while in their strange screeching language, gesturing at a screen and at her alternately. Eventually someone higher ranked came along and told them off. She was locked away in a plain white 8 by 8 cell. Her star rod had of course been locked away. All in all, it could have been worse.

Everyone overlooked the belt.

She watched the guards passing back and forth, locking the others away in specialized cells. They took off at one point and the lurching nearly threw her into a wall. Once they were in the air the guards seemed to relax and one of them even wandered away somewhere. Stargirl quietly went to work on the door of her cell.

Superstrength was an interesting power. If her strength without the belt was a one and Superman level strength was a ten then with the belt she might be a three and a half, four if she was lucky. That still left her plenty strong enough to take down the average goon so generally the how didn't matter too much. Now though, she needed more than strength, she needed precision. The belt gave her strength by sending the cosmic power it gathered through her, fuleing her natural abuilities and enhansing them.

Stargirl reached for that power now. One hand gripped tight on her belt, the other sliding around the lock. She wasn't strong enough to bend the bars without some kind of leverage, but the lock was smaller. If she could channel the total strength of the belt into her grip she could crush it. At least in theory.

Using the power was old hat to her by now but it was slippery in her grip as she tried to channel it. Her hand started to tingle, the tips of her fingers going numb, as she squeezed. A moment later a high pitched twisting screech signaled the collapse of the lock and it's frame. Stargirl blinked the spots from her eyes and stepped forward. She peered through the bars trying to see if anyone was coming as she tested the lock. It gave.

There's no one in sight, though she doesn't fool herself about a lack of cameras. The alarms sounded about seven seconds after she had slipped out of her cell but even that was enough for her to step up to the cell next to her own and start ripping at the door. The sounds of running marching feet approaching was accompanied by the rustle of wings.

The cell belonged to Static. It was made of a sturdy substance that isn't quite plastic but was close enough that it doesn't conduct electricity. He quickly got with the program, standing ready as she wrenched at the door.

Apparently her luck had run out. Instead of swinging open the door twisted in it's frame, open only far enough for one of them to get an arm through. Static slammed his shoulder into it, trying to force it open as she pulled. It moved another half inch with a groan.

At the end of the row of cells, four thanagarians, all armed with spears and with wings raised, charged through the doors. Static slammed into the door again, just as Stargirl yelped and lost her grip. The door shifted then settled.

"Halt." one of the soldiers called.

Static pressed to his door, looking from Stargirl to the enemy. "Go," he shouted "Run!" She hesitated. Static shoved a hand through the gap in the door and sent a bolt of energy towards the hawks. They brought up their spears and wings shielding themselves.

Stargirl took one last look back at Static before turning and running for the opposite end of the hall.

One solid kick knocked aside the grating to a ventilation shaft that would have been far too small for any thanagarian to fit through, and she vanished into the arteries of the alien ship.

* * *

"Hey, I think she's waking up." Red Arrow called over to where Nightwing was giving a rundown of the situation to the other heroes. Red Arrow knew maybe half of them by sight and had met a handful of those but most of them were new to him. Nightwing seemed to have memorised files on them or something, because he greeted them all by name even when he had to introduce himself. Nightwing nodded to him and went back to finishing up his story.

As it stood the group was a strange mix. Half the members had been around for ages, retired heroes like the old Flash, Wildcat and Allen Scott: the Green Lantern. Others were younger, their careers cut short by the Lords takeover. Liberty Bel, Hourman, Damage, Animal Man. There were former rebellion members among the group, people who Red Arrow had thought were dead: Black Orchid, Huntress, Question, SandMan, Metamorpho. Others were younger, seemingly there by accident: Beast Boy, Terra, Jade, Blue Beetle. Others had been student's of Zatanna's, and had gathered around in an attempt to learn what was going on: Kid Devil, Hector Hall, the Batson siblings, a girl who only gave her name as Jinx, Traci Thirteen, Hawk and Dove.

There had been villains in those cells of course, but with the sheer number of heroes on hand and with the monsters all trying to take out each other, they had fallen quickly, and were now trapped in the various rooms of the House of Mystery. At least the ones they could find had been locked up. Others had seemingly vanished, disappearing into the depths of the sub-space the house occupied or were simply shut out by the house all together.

Zatanna groaned and brought a hand up to her head without opening her eyes. "Don't ever let me cast that spell again. I'm pretty sure I won't live through it."

Red Arrow passed her an unopened bottle of water. He was fairly sure she was kidding, but he couldn't be one hundred percent sure. He might just have been to used to gallows humor.

"You feeling alright."

"If I'm not dead yet, I'll live." She twisted open the bottle with her eyes still closed, taking long slow swallows rather than trying to gulp it down. "What happened?"

Red glanced around at the crowd again. "Well, you got us here. The cells were about fifty-fifty on the hero to monster scale so we had some help. We're all mostly good. No major injuries, but we're totally cut off. No idea what's happening outside the, uh, house."

She opened her eyes, then squeezed them shut again, blinking several times before attempting to sit up. She kept a hand on her head as she looked around. The group was still in the Ballroom since no one really wanted to try moving that many unconscious people. Plus the dimensions of the house seemed to change whenever you turned your back and no one wanted to get separated from the group at that point.

"Yeah, kind of hard to get reception in another dimension." Zee waved off the hands offering help. She took a deep breath and managed to steady herself.

"Right, so are we trapped in here then?" Red Arrow spoke casually, but he was rolling his shoulders and the hand holding his bow kept flexing as the shadows shifted.

"No." Zatanna waved a hand. "Getting out is way easier than getting in, but once we leave thats it. I won't be able to get us back here. Wherever we go next had better be safe, or we're going to be screwed."

Red spun around to look at her. "We don't have to go back to where we left?"

She shrugged. "So long as you know the address."

"108th and Grant in the warehouse district, Star City. Can you do it?"

"Well, yeah, don't see why not. But shouldn't we be filling in Nightwing and everyone else."

Red Arrow turned to look at the group of Heroes Nightwing was standing with. "No. I don't think we should trust him just yet, and I'd rather not spill to everyone one of the Resistance's major hideouts.

Zee considered that then nodded. "Okay, find me a door. Let's get out of here."

* * *

 


	29. Chapter 29

Stargirl hadn't properly appreciated the fact that they were in space, not until she got out of the area's meant for people and the artificial gravity lessened. If she hadn't practiced flying all that time, she might have thrown up. At least it was easier for her to pull herself along. Then the temperature had dropped and the air started thinning.

Stargirl found a spot against one of the walls that wasn't frosted over and curled up, trying to think up her next move.

It was always so easy in the movies. The hero would slip into the depths of the ship and five minutes later things would start malfunctioning. the hero would be able to reach anywhere in the ship, quietly appearing in the command center or the engine rooms. They'd be able to steal a ship which they would immediately know how to fly, and get away or break into the weapons locker and get all their equipment back.

Stargirl couldn't even start tearing into the wiring, because while she might take out their communications or their security she also could end up taking out the air filtration or the power to the engines.

Falling out of the sky and coming back to earth in a giant fiery crash really wouldn't help the escape attempt.

In the distance she heard the sound of an alarm. Apparently she had been sitting on one place for long enough. She'd just have to keep moving and see what she could find.

What she ended up finding was the landing bay. They had passed through it briefly before being escorted to the holding cells. Apparently the heroes weren't the only ones they were planning on locking up. As she watched two shuttles arrived the first one full of what looked like military personnel, and the next containing what seemed like political prisoners.

One man yelled at his captor in a language Stargirl didn't know and was knocked to the floor. Another, a man with familiar features and dark hair moved to help him stand.

"Hey easy, we're going." the second man said he was turned towards the guard, but she could see his eyes dance over the whole of the room. His eyes met hers a moment later widening slightly as he found her shape up in a corner of the darkness. She held up a hand indicating silence. He let his head fall forward slightly, nodding.

She thought he was just going to agree, wait for her signal and maybe help if she acted, but when the guards started heading for the door, he grabbed the second to last in line, looped his restraints around the hawk's neck and threw him into the soldier behind him. The other four hawks turned to deal with the situation, two others coming out of some kind of guard room to see what was going on. Stargirl cursed under her breath as she launched herself from the shadows.

Most of the prisoners had crouched on instinct, ducking their heads at the electrical crackle of the Hawk's weapons. A few, including the dark haired man, turned on their attackers. As she leapt down into the fight Stargirl noted the differences in uniform, and aimed her kick at the one she thought probably had the highest rank.

Her sudden appearance came as a surprise to nearly everyone, including her target. Her kick landed in the small of the hawk's back, just below the wing joints. He howled, spasms going through his wings, and she was thrown back, off her feet. Higher strength didn't mean higher mass, and she still didn't have her staff. Her opponent turned, said something in his alien language and swept his spear at her.

Stargirl's list of combat disciplines was pathetically short for a superhero, but spears were just another type of staff and that was right at the top of her list. She dodged the initial thrust, looping her arm around the shaft and twisting it down, around and up, in a move she had practiced hundreds of times. the weapon was ripped from the Hawk's hands. Before he could retaliate, or launch himself towards the ceiling, Stargirl pressed forward. He tried to grab the weapon back but she had the end without the blade pressed into the angle of his neck and shoulder, pressing his down to the floor. Here the super strength came in handy as he struggled against her.

"Stop!" She shouted straight into his face, and in shock, he obeyed.

She looked up at the rest of the fight. Less than two minutes had passed and no one had had time to work into a good panic yet. Her yell had actually drawn half the combatants to a stop. The dark haired man was still grappling with a third hawk and the two near the guard house were on the floor thanks to a brown haired man in a blue shirt. The other three hawks had weapons held on the other prisoners.

"Tell them to stand down." Stargirl growled at the hawk she was sitting on. she emphasized her words with a press of the spear against his neck. Stargirl knew there wasn't much chance of looking intimidating, she was too small and blond for that. On the other hand having a spear to their boss's throat had to count for something.

One of the other hawks snarled something and stepped forward, but at that moment the dark haired man pinned his opponent to the floor with a thud. The man in the blue shirt had some kind of weapon trained on the two hawks he had taken down.

"Do it, Now!" Stargirl shouted into her captive's face. This time he obeyed. The order goes out and the other hawks, the ones that aren't already down, drop to their knees. The other prisoners get to their feet. one of them spots a rope, and they go to work, tying up their former captors. Stargirl drove one superpowered fist into the forehead of the one she had pinned and his helmet rang like a bell, knocking him out.

The hero took a deep breath, and her brain seemed to switch back on. Oh crapcakes, now, not only is she in the middle of an alien ship that's probably on high alert, but she has a bunch of civilians to worry about. Well, at least two of them seem to be able to handle themselves.

She pointed at the man in the blue shirt and the man with dark hair. "Names?"

"Ted Kord." the man in blue answers at the same time as the dark haired man says.

"Bruce Wayne, and you are?"

"Stargirl. and the rest of you?" she looked over the group. Now that she was paying attention she noted quite the variation in skin tone and overall look.

"I'm Max Lord." another man said stepping forward holding out his hand. "Chief Secretary for the United Nations. we were pulling together an emergency meeting when we were captured."

"Okay, that makes sense." she paused taking another deep breath. "Do any of the rest of you have combat experience?" the faces of a few of them went hard, mostly the ones wearing military uniforms, but it was an african man wearing black and gold that spoke.

"You expect us to fight?"

"We're in an alien space ship orbiting the earth. We may have won this battle, but we'd probably already be seeing reinforcements if they didn't think I was still crawling through the vents. We need to come up with a plan, unless one of you can fly one of these things?" She gestured up at the Thanagarian transport ships that had brought them all in. The crowd hesitated, some of them winced. Ted Kord looked thoughtful.

"What about the other heroes? You're not alone up here are you?" Wayne asked.

"There were a group of us captured, Static, Supergirl, a few others. they underestimated me and I was able to get away, but the others are still locked up."

"There's no way to free them?"

"We'd need a good distraction, or something. I nearly had Static free when they came after me."

"What if we gave you a distraction?"

Stargirl looked over at Ted Kord.

"Ted, what are you thinking?" Wayne looked like curious despite himself.

"Oh, come on Bruce, aren't you just dieing to get into one of these things and start pressing buttons?"

"Not really."

"Spoilsport, you were much more fun back in school."

"I'll help." Max Lord tossed in. "I bet that control room has something we can use. Maybe we can even listen in on their radios or something."

"Would that give you enough time to get the other heroes free?" Wayne asked, turning back to Stargirl.

She considered, then nodded. "If you're sure. I don't want any of you to put yourselves in danger."

"We're already in danger, you freeing the other heroes is probably the best option we have."

Stargirl took a breath, straightened her shoulders and looked back towards the vents. She was fairly sure she could retrace her path, and if she took a weapon off one of the hawks she wouldn't be unarmed. "Okay, give me five minutes then start causing as much noise as possible," she paused, "And I'll need a boost."

She couldn't wait to get her staff back. It had been less than two hours and she already missed flying.

* * *

The members of the resistance only let Flash and Green Lantern into the warehouse after Oracle had verified that she had sent them. The old factory floor had converted into a machine shop at some point, but now all the cars had been dragged to the sides or turned into barricades in case of an attack; all except for one, an older model gold-brown Camaro which seemed to have machine guns folding out of the back seat.

The place was crowded, everyone on edge and armed despite the security. Flash recognised a few of the members in costume: Irons, Plastique, Deathstroke, Guardian, Warrior. Others he didn't know by name but recognised as powers of one kind of another. He'd been out of the game too long.

The new Lantern, Kyle, eyed the crowd with mixed fear and curiosity. He had taken to floating about an inch off the floor. Half formed ideas, created wispy shapes from his aura. He was getting a lot of looks, not all of them friendly, but not nearly as many as Flash. His red uniform was known by every person there, and it was obvious half of them didn't really believe the message it sent. Flash pulled in a touch more speed, stopping any question of his authenticity by casually moving at two or three times the normal speed.

Someone had set up three wide screen TVs against the back wall and hooked them up to a networked system of computers which Oracle was broadcasting from. Flash headed towards the crowd gathered there, but was ambushed by a tiny little woman was enormous hazel eyes.

"So, you're the Flash?"

"Umm, yes. Who are you?"

"Liz, medical student, all injuries have to be looked at and assessed by me before you can be released for combat."

Flash felt his eyebrows go up and from behind him GL asked, "Is she for real?"

"Yes, I am for real." her pout was surprisingly adorable. "Now, you two just came in, which means you were out there fighting. Are you hurt?"

"Umm, no, but thank you for asking." Flash said, but her attention was distracted halfway through when the main doors behind them opened. Flash tuned to see who was coming in and was momentarily stunned to stillness.

The cavalry had arrived.

Red Arrow lead the group, back straight and bow in hand. His quiver was half-empty and he was covered in scrapes that had already scabbed over and bruises that were only starting to show. Beside him walked a woman in black. Her hair fell in dark curls to her shoulders, there was a red stone around her neck, but it was the white gloves that gave her away as Zatanna mistress of Magic. Nightwing was a step behind her in his full black leather cat suit and mask, the blue stripes down his arms almost seeming to glow.

More figures poured in behind them, people he knew. Wildcat, Allen Scott, Sandman, everyone from his disastrous party, and more. His eyes caught on Jessy and Jay, and he was stepping forward to meet them before his mind caught up with the decision.

Jay grinned at him, pushing his helmet back on his head and reaching out to grab his shoulder. "Hey kid, glad you could make it. I like the new outfit."

Wally smiled behind the mask. "Thank you." it was a weight off his shoulders that Jay, the first person to use the Flash name, approved. He swallowed back any emotion before anyone who didn't have superspeed could see it. "I could say the same to you. By the time I got back, you were all just gone, what happened?"

"See, told you I'd find them." Nightwing threw an arm over his shoulders. "The martian had them locked up this freaky prison."

Flash grinned at his friend. "Like Mad Mod crazy or like Hive crazy?"

"Definitely Hive crazy, with a little bit big brother overlord feeling."

The punch came out of nowhere. Even Flash didn't catch it. Suddenly Red Arrow had Nightwing by the front of his uniform and was threatening to punch him a second time. "I knew it. I knew you showing up like that was suspicious. Now I know why I didn't recognize you. Had to change your name, trying to play into our favors. You even said it, Hacker, Acrobat, Detective."

"What the hell?" Zatanna cried out as the struggle swept in her direction. No one seemed to know what to do. the whole warehouse had gone still and silent to watch their leader attack Nightwing.

For his part Nightwing was silent fending off blows, but not throwing any of his own, playing defensively.

Flash pulled in speed, letting his mind listen to Rea Arrow's rant even as he went over the last few minutes. Of course; Hive, Mad Mod, the sidekicks hadn't often fought together, but when they had…. Red Arrow, Roy, would have known that, would have recognised the references.

Flash dove between his two old friends holding them apart. "Red, Chil. What the hell?"

"Out of the way."

"No, not until you tell me why you're attacking our friend."

"He's no friend of mine." Red strained against him. "He's Batman's fucking stooge. Robin, the fucking boy wonder, the traitor who -"

"Who what?" Flash was shouting now straight into Red Arrows face, just to hold his attention. "What did he do? Tell me one thing that was actually him. Do you think he killed Green Arrow? He didn't even know about it until I told him."

"He's the Batman's damn apprentice, the Spymaster of the Lords."

"Who he hasn't talked to in years. Is simply being the student of the Lords a crime here?" Wally didn't think about it, just tore the mask off his head, forcing Roy to look at him. "What about me then? My mentor was one of the Seven. Should I just leave then? Don't want my help?" He waved a hand at the new Green Lantern who was hovering uncertainly behind him. "What about him? He inherited John Stewart's power ring less than two hours ago, does that make him tainted too?"

Flash leaned close. He could feel Roy shaking but he wasn't lashing out anymore. "I'm sorry Roy." He whispered it so no one else would hear. "I'm so sorry about Oliver. I know what that's like. I know how hard it is to even keep going at this point, and I know you want someone to blame. I wish I could tell you it get's better but there isn't enough time in the world for that."

Flash leaned back and let his voice rise again. "You've been fighting a war. Fighting for so long and against such terrible odds that you can't even see you've won. The Lords are done. No matter what happens tomorrow or next week, The Lord's power base has been broken. Which is the only reason we're all here. We all have grudges here. We've all been at each others throats at some point, but the Lords aren't hear to deal with outside threats while we struggle against ourselves anymore."

Red Arrow stopped struggling, shifted his weight back onto his heels and took a breath. He kept his eyes on Wally, rather then looking back at Nightwing. His shoulders shifted back, settling into an easy stance, and once more sliding into the role of leader of the resistance. His eyes were hard.

"I'm going to fight, but I can't win without help. Can I ask you to watch my back?"

"Yes. We'll fight. A truce then, until we get these damn vultures off our planet."

Flash nodded. Red Arrow glanced at Nightwing. Nightwing let his eyes drop nodding in something almost looked like a bow, and Red Arrow turned to face the crowd of people watching.

Zatanna rolled her eyes. She had wandered over to the screens Oracle was using. "Now that the pissing contest is over can we maybe come up with a plan? I don't know about the rest of you but things look kind of terrible from where I'm standing."

Red Arrow joined Zee by the screens Flash sent a grin at Nightwing then followed. Nightwing chose a seat off to the side, where he could see and contribute but was also clearly separate from the group.

"Batman had a plan." Flash offered, and fished out the drive he had been given. "He told me Green Lantern would need this but I don't know what's on it." the group looked at the drive suspiciously.

"Nightwing, if you would?" Oracle said after a moment.

Nightwing stepped forward, took the drive and plugged it into his wrist computer. "It's clean. He announced after a moment. "It's an access key. It's got Batman's override codes for the watchtower." He paused, typed in a few commands, "But from the way these are formatted you'd need a second key. That's probably why he told you to take them to Green Lantern. He'd have the other half of the key."

"Well, so much for that idea. John Stuart's dead."

Eyes drifted over to Kyle who was looking down at his ring. "Maybe not. Ring, do you contain files from previous users?"

**All data from previous users archived for reference by the Guardians of Oa.**

The young Green Lantern shrugged. "I might be able to access them, if I can figure out the right command. I'm still new to this."

Nightwing was still tapping at his wrist computer. "It might not do us any good even if you can. It looks like one of the safeguards is that you have to enter the codes directly into the mainframe."

"And of course the Hawks have the watchtower." Zee crossed her arms.

Red Arrow bent forward commandeering one of the keyboards and bringing up the watchtower on one of the screens. "We'll need a strike team. Maybe four or five people who can get in and reset the codes. From their movements so far, they're using a lot of the Lords data. We reset the systems, lock them out, bring it out of orbit if we have to."

"That's assuming we can get inside." Zatanna spoke up. "Because if you think I could just teleport us in there, you're wrong. I need exact coordinates or else to have been there before. Forget teleporting into a wall, there's nothing stopping the spell from dropping us off in empty space. Two feet to the left and we're all dead."

Red frowned. "Lantern then."

"Who me?" Kyle pointed at his chest. "I just barely learned to fly and you want to send me into space?"

"You're going to have to in any case, the second key is on your ring." Flash smiled. "Look, don't worry about it. The ring is designed to protect the wearer. You'll probably be the safest of any of us. Now who else is coming?"

Red Arrow crossed his arms. "Who said you were on the team?"

"I admit, it's been a while, but I've been on the watchtower before. I'm probably the only one here other then Nightwing who knows the layout, and if GL can't access John Stewart's old pass codes I can try Flash's old codes."

Red scowled. "Natasha knows the layout." it was a poor argument and it was clear Roy didn't actually have a reason to keep Wally off the team.

"Great, she can come to."

Flash waited for Roy to pull himself together. His emotions had taken control when he'd found out about Nightwing, and he was having trouble pulling himself together. In the old days Roy had seemed like a hot head the few times Wally had met him. He had clearly matured though. Now he was leading a secret organization of hundreds spread out all across the country. Some of the most dangerous people on the planet looked to him for orders.

Wally didn't have to wait long.

"Alright, Flash is on the team, along with Green Lantern, Nightwing, Zatanna and myself."

Nightwing looked up in surprise. "You want me along?"

"You're the only one who has the slightest chance of getting through Batman's code if we can't get the other access key to work, and I'll be there to watch you?"

"And me?" Zatanna asked.

"You said you couldn't get us there. doesn't mean you can't get us back if something goes wrong."

"Oh, yeah. Guess I hadn't thought we'd live that long. glad to know at least one of us is an optimist."

Flash snorted out a laugh. "He's not an optimist, he's just confident, and he's right to be. These guys may have a fleet but they don't know the watchtower any better than we do. The only person we actually have to watch out for is Lord Hawkgirl."

Oracle's Icon brightened on the screen. "I believe I can help with that. The Thanagarians are currently spread thin after their first wave of attacks. Activity in the right areas will force them to draw further ships out of orbit to counter the threat."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Flash couldn't help the grin that spread over him despite the danger he was about to throw himself into.

* * *

 


	30. Chapter 30

There seemed to be about four different alarms going off at once when Stargirl threw open the doors to Static's cell.

"What's the score?" He called out over the wailing as he stepped out of his cell, energy blasts ready. The down time had actually given him a chance to recharge and he was itching to get back in the fight.

"Found a group of civilians in the hanger and they're causing a distraction." Stargirl barked out, "Now help me with this." She headed for the next door in line, gripping the bars and planting her feet. Static looked to the keypad instead. It was electric and that was good enough for him.

He sent a jolt of power through the system, and the safeguards kicked on, throwing the doors open. The Ray, stumbled from the cell, shaking his head and blinking to reorient himself. He opened his mouth to ask a question, and Static let Stargirl answer it, moving down the line again. Shining knight was in the next cell. Vixen was in the one after that, but before he could get the door fully open the guards were coming down on them.

Shining knight let out a battle cry in some archaic language and launched himself forward despite not having his sword. Vixen was snarling and Static yanked on her door again. Then she was free and whoever had seen fit to take their weapons had neglected her totem because she shouted "Lion!" and lept on their captors.

Then Supergirl was beside him, still unsteady on her feet from the red sun lamps but furious as hell. "Ray, Static, can you mess up their communications?" She asked.

"Don't really have to," Ray shrugged. "They're already in a panic, everything's scrambled, but I could shut it down entirely if you want me to.

"Do it." Supergirl snarled.

"No wait." Static held up a hand, "Can you create an uplink to earth?"

"Sure, I can use their carrier signal."

"Cool, Open a connection to STAR labs in Decota. There's someone there I've been working with, if he can get inside their systems we won't even need to fight. He could turn their own ship against them."

Ray glanced as Supergirl then, at her nod, went to work.

With the last of the cells open, the heroes formed up, barreling into the corridors, and taking down any hawk who dared to cross their path.

* * *

"Just a big bubble, make sure we're all inside it and take us up. It should be just like flying." Flash said, resting one hand on Green Lanterns shoulder.

They were all standing on the wide windy expanse of the warehouse roof. Flash, Red Arrow, Zatanna, and Nightwing, all huddled and waiting for him to do something. GL knew the type of bubble that Flash meant. He'd watched John Stuart on the news often enough, but the more he thought about it the less he was convinced it would work. Willing a bubble into existence would be easy but he kept picturing the bubble popping as soon as they got high enough. Alien science or not he didn't think the construct would hold if he started doubting himself. No, he needed something more solid, something he could actually picture taking them all into space.

Kyle held out his hand palm down, and a green platform spread out under their feet. After it had grown large enough to support them all it started curling up, dividing into segments and bending, coming back together over their heads to meld seamlessly together. The green structure continues to shift. Different objects emerging from the walls and they are definitely walls now, no one could mistake this for a bubble.

Green Lantern slowly turned in place adding details with a thought here or simplifying other elements where they're growing too complex. There's a small smile on his face as he works, a quiet thrill at the new way he's been given to create.

"Is this the Enterprise?" Flash asked when Green Lantern finally made a noise of satisfaction.

"Kind of, I mean I had to adapt it and obviously it's not full size since that would be as big as the city and since my ring is powering it we don't actually need the engines and things, but yeah." Green Lantern's smile was sheepish.

Flash turned to Nightwing. "I think I like him." Nightwing nodded in agreement.

Green Lantern smiled then slid into the pilot's chair. There was a brief struggle over who would take the captains chair, with Flash winning simply because he managed to get there first. Nightwing shrugged, settling into the first officer's position while Red Arrow Crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame glaring at everyone. Zatanna rolled her eyes settling into a seat near the back.

Green Lantern's grin had been upgraded to a full on maniac level smile as he tapped at the controls in front of him and sent them shooting up. The sky went from white and blue to black in a matter of minutes, Stars blinking into existence like showers of sparks.

With a thought and a gesture Green Lantern dulled the glow of the outer hull, and shifted into an orbital trajectory.

"The watchtower in in geosynchronous orbit over Washington." Nightwing announced into the awed silence. Green Lantern shifted course acting as if he did this every day rather than this being the first time. It felt easy, automatic, natural. The ring felt like a tool he'd been using all his life.

The Watchtower came into view a few minutes later, a grey shape that was strangely clear with the lack of atmosphere. It sat at the lower edge of the Thanagarian fleet. The blocky carrier ships acting as armed guard to her sleek deadly power.

"Shields up." Flash muttered from the captain's chair and the group tensed waiting to be noticed. The enemy ships drifted along their flight paths, their routs hurried but deliberate as the strike team approached. Then with a soundless explosion a wall of one of the largest thanagarian ships exploded outward. A figure in classic red and blue shot from the middle of the debris seemingly unaware of the lack of oxygen. It was followed a moment later by a figure of living light, and together they drew the attention of the enemy guard.

Red Arrow was suddenly leaning over the front console next to Kyle. "Is that Superman?"

"Later." Flash pointed at the watchtower. "Take us in."

Kyle was already following the order as Red Arrow turned around. "If that's Superman-"

"And if it's not then what? I'm not going to waste the one good distraction we're likely to get."

"Everyone hold on." Kyle called over Flash's words and the construct around them began to change, shrinking down until they were all standing within arms reach. The glow of the construct faded until it was only the faintest glimmer between them and the vacuum of space. Red Arrow shivered slightly, but a moment later they were curving into the landing bay of the Watchtower with the air locks triggering as they recognized the energy of the Green Lantern.

Flash stepped forward placing a hand on Kyle's shoulder, signaling him to wait. "I'm on point." he said to the group. "I'll try to clear a path through to the command center. There should be a secondary command center not to far away, that's the backup goal."

"What about those guys outside?" Green Lantern asked.

"For now, if they're fighting the Hawks, help em." Flash looked around, meeting the eyes of the group. He sank into a crouch, buzzing in place while the others readied weapons. Green Lantern let his field drop with a gesture. Flash was immediately gone in a blur of red and seconds later alarms were sounding all around them.

Zatanna started up a chant, striding forward with her hands waving through the air. Nightwing was beside her swinging some kind of baton and rolling his shoulders. Red Arrow took a moment to check his bow, turning to make sure their backs were covered.

Kyle hesitated. While the ring seemed like an extension of his hand, his imagination, he had never really been in a fight before. Everyone else seemed so sure of where they should be and what they should be doing. Even Red Arrow was acting professional despite the fact that he was still shooting Nightwing evil looks every now and again.

Green Lantern shook his head. He'd played enough video games as a kid, read plenty of comic books. He'd have to just fake it until he learned what to do.

That was when the hull behind them exploded.

* * *

The Ray had managed to get an uplink working for just under five minutes before someone on the other side realized what they were doing, and shut down the network. It was long enough for Gear to establish a connection and turn the Prison ship into a floating rock. Life support and enough propulsion to stay in orbit was all he had left them. Unfortunately he couldn't affect the manual weapons or block the raw strength and skill of the invaders.

With that the battle had turned into a series of skirmishes in corridors and airlocks. They'd gotten split up, each following their own style of combat and quickly divided by the military unity of the Hawks. It wasn't the advantage the Hawks had thought it would be. While many of them had trained together, all of the lieutenants were used to fighting on their own, and against odds that should have been daunting.

Somehow Static ended up beside stargirl again. They were tucked into an alcove in some corridor while Hawks fired on them from the other end.

"Can you deflect the shots or anything?" He asked, trying to peer around the corner without getting a laser bolt between the eyes.

"Not without my staff." Stargirl still hadn't located the weapons locker. "You?"

"Bullets maybe, lasers, not so much."

They were both thrown sideways into the corridor when an explosion rocked the vessel. Luckily their opponents were dealing with the same issue. Static pushed off the floor with one hand, firing off bolts of energy before the thanagarians could sort themselves out. Stargirl was a step behind him, slamming one of them back to the floor with a solid dropkick when he tried to rise.

The two heroes had stumbled on the command center. A hawk with a tricked out helmet was shouting orders at several others who seemed to be technicians. A large symbol of a steampunk style gear flickered on and off on the main screen as the digital fight raged beside the real one.

Static took it all in, in between knocking out the door guard and then ducking back into the corridor as someone noticed and started shooting at him. Stargirl had snatched up a spear from one of their fallen foes and she somehow managed to get it to shoot things. Everyone in the command center started ducking down behind their chairs, and the guy in charge started shouting out orders in Thanagarian.

The standoff lasted for about thirty brief seconds before the command center went dark.

"Take that Asshats." Came a modulated voice from the speakers that Static never the less recognized. Then the fire suppression system kicked in and covered the room in white foam that hardened into a shell over the thanagarians.

"Gear? That you?" Static called into the dark.

The lights came back up. the gear on the main screen had been replaced by a young man in a green mask with a shock of blond hair. "Static! Reading you loud and clear man. Thanks for the distraction their techs were actually half competent. Oh, hang on." Gear looked down and the sound of furious typing came from off-screen. A moment later some kind of PA system crackled to life. "Heroes of Earth," Gear said in a very dramatic voice. "Rejoice for the Ship is ours." Another burst of typing and Gear switched to the polite tones of a flight attendant. "If all parties could meet their leader at the bridge, Gear Systems will be happy to handle any baggage you are attending to. Simply deposit winged packages in a spare room and we will see that they are not disturbed for the foreseeable future. Thank you and have a nice day."

Gear turned off the PA system and smiled at the eyebrow Static raised in his direction.

"So who's your friend?"

"Stargirl this is my friend Gear, Gear, Stargirl."

"Is he always like that?" Stargirl asked pointing up at the screen as if it wasn't obvious that the giant head could both see and hear them.

Static Shrugged. "Sometimes he's asleep."

Static took a few steps forward to where the Thanagarian leader was frozen to his chair. A quick zap to the guy's forehead made sure he was out for the count, then he shoved the Hawk to the floor and took a seat, looking over the various displays.

"So what's the score? Do we need to retake the earth?"

Gear scrunched up his mouth onto one side of his face. "Kind of hard to tell. People are moving all over the place. The space invaders have taken several cities, but Green Lantern took out their mothership before he went down so their forces are kind of scattered. I think they're just working off their last orders, no centralized command."

"Umm, guys?" Stargirl hesitantly interrupted. "What's that?"

She was pointing at a round platform on the floor just large enough for three people to stand on. Several of the hawks had apparently been waiting next to it, before they'd been immobilized. The platform was sending blue light up into the air in pulsing waves.

"Frag!" Gear started typing furiously. "It's a teleporter. looks like they were opening a channel to another ship, no wait, the watchtower, thats an earth designation."

"Well, shut it down." Static snapped. "We really don't need to get swamped by reinforcements."

"I can't! It's a safety feature. Until something's sent through it'll stay on in case someone's about to step on. See this is why My teleporter floors this thing, not to mention the size, and portability. How many people do you think can fit on that platform? Three? Probably only two with the wings."

"Preaching to the choir here. Can you, I don't know, redirect it?" Static was up and moved to stand ready at the edge of the field, Stargirl beside him.

"I don't know, maybe if I timed the cycles right…"

Stargirl clutched at her stolen weapon. "You said the watchtower's on the other side right?"

"Yeah, that's definitely where they were going. Not sure why, but that's where they were going."

Static looked at Stargirl as she squared her shoulders. He realized what she was doing about four seconds before she stepped forward onto the platform. Instinct took him forward with her into the unknown.

* * *

Green Lantern threw out a shield the moment he felt the explosion, or hell, it might have been the ring acting on some kind of safety protocol. The atmosphere was venting out into space and blast doors slammed to prevent decompression. He thought he saw a door slam between himself and the others before suddenly he was back in the vacuum and bolts of energy were lancing in flashes all around him.

A matte-chrome shape the approximate size of a whale blasted past him way too close for comfort. Green Lantern lashed out, his will forming a raw blast of green energy that vaporized a circular hole in the cruiser. the force pushed it away enough to see the figure it had been chasing turn at a sharp angle and come rushing back in his direction.

Shields, Green Lantern thought desperately, and around him medieval style battlements sprang up. But the figure wasn't aiming at him. Green Lantern finally got a good look at the red and blue uniform when Supergirl barreled into the ship he'd scuttled and sent it careening into a group of it's fellows.

"Thanks for the assist." She turned to him, and a part of him knew she shouldn't be able to speak in space but the ring was kind of vibrating and he decided to just go with it. "I didn't think the Guardians would send another lantern so fast. What sector are you from?" She floated closer and looked him up and down.

"Umm, this one? The ring chose me like, six hours ago, and then Flash showed up, and now I'm here."

"Seriously?" she looked like she didn't want to believe him but couldn't come up with anything else that fit.

"Yeah, umm, should we be talking like this? Not that I don't want to talk but weren't they shooting at you a second ago?" He gestured at the remaining thanagarian ships.

Supergirl rolled her eyes. "As if their targeting computers could factor hitting anything smaller than a tank."

As if purely to contradict her words three thanagarian fighters barreled down on them. The lead ship sent off a dozen shots. Green Lantern, facing them, had a second of warning to bring up his shields. Supergirl wasn't so lucky. The blast knocked her into Green Lantern's shields, shattering the construct and sending them both spinning end over end past where the watchtower floated.

"You Asshat." Supergirl shouted when they finally managed to orient themselves. "That was my favorite cape!" The cape in question was now chared and floating away in ragged strips. Her eyes flashed red, then she launched herself back into the fight.

Green Lantern rolled his shoulders, adjusted the ring on his finger, then followed her lead.

* * *

Flash had once known the curving corridors of the watchtower, but that had been a long time ago. Things had changed. He found three wrong turns before he oriented himself and found the pattern in the new layout.

The others were behind him somewhere. He had caught glimpses of them when he'd doubled back. There were Thanagarians everywhere but most of them seemed to have been caught unawares. They were arming up, preparing battlestations. Flash breezed past them. He didn't worry about taking them all out. Instead he crippled machinery, damaged weapons and delivered quick one-two punches that left his targets stunned long enough for Red Arrow, Zatanna and Nightwing to swoop down on them.

As Fast as he was though, he couldn't reach the command center before they could lock everything down. He saw the blast doors lowering and put on an extra burst of speed sliding through in a baseball crouch. When he looked up it was into the barrels of two dozen Thanagarian rifles. His mind was still running fast and it came up with scenario after scenario where he disarmed a few only to be taken down by shear numbers.

Flash had dumped his momentum, and the few seconds it would take to get back up to high gear would be long enough to get him shot.

Then the light shifted, as the teleport station behind him came on line. Flash settled in. With reinforcements there was no way he would be leaving or even be able to hold out for reinforcements of his own. He was a hero though, and fighting for his planet, he would keep going as long as he could.

Two figures slowly solidified out of golden light.

Static raised a fist, sheathed in crackling energy, as Stargirl brought her weapon to bear on the leader.

In the moment of surprise Flash moved. He circled the room in a red blur and by the time Red Arrow and the others arrived, the station was theirs.

* * *

74%

…

89%

…

100%

"I have regained full control of all watchtower systems." Oracle reported. "Gear, do you read me? Static reports you have control of the Thanagarian prison vessel?"

"Umm, Yes?" Gear's masked face appeared next to Oracle's on the Watchtower's main screen. "Network established. Umm, are you really Oracle? The Oracle? Because I've been following your work in data mapping and hidden pattern recognition, and just Wow. You're like, brilliant. I'm a huge fan. I mean, every time I find your colsign on the boards or the way you always link back to news agencies when you hide your trail, amazing, like jaw dropping, every time. and I totally called it with Mayers. That you're a single hacker, because this is obviously coming from a single IP. He's convinced you're a group based out of Turkey. But I told him that a hacker of your caliber… Do you mind the term hacker? Because I know some people who don't like it. I won't tell anyone by the way, about the IP."

"Gear, chil man." Static broke in.

Gear went red-faced. "Yeah, sorry, babbling, Just I never thought I'd get to work with you and Wow, and… Yeah shutting up now."

"That's perfectly alright. Can you send me the last known locations of all ships in the Thanagarian fleet?"

"Right, Yes. Uploading now."

* * *

In the few minutes Gear and Oracle were processing things Flash looked around at the ragtag team that had found it's way to the Watchtower.

Zatanna was leaning against the doors, twirling her hat with one hand. Nightwing had silently moved to strip all the weapons from the downed Thanagarians. Stargirl had moved to help him when he'd started dragging them to the teleporter and zapping them into the same holding cells she'd been held in earlier. Green Lantern hovered outside the large optical windows, playing shield and turet whenever another ship got too close. Static had taken a spot in front of the console and was bantering with Gear whenever the latter wasn't fangirling over Oracle. Red Arrow had crossed his arms and stationed himself by the door, his glare switching back and forth between Nightwing and Static.

It was a rather random group. Hand-to-hand, ranged, mystical, and mundane, they spanned the full range as far as combat went, but it was more than that. Here they were. The unnamed leader of the resistance, teaming up with Lord lieutenants. New heros fighting beside legacies.

This was what it used to be about. Those who could make a difference, coming together. Sure this team was a little more haphazard than some. Green Lantern was doing well all things considered, but he was still brand new to the game and Stargirl wasn't much better. Tensions would probably start flying between Red Arrow and the others again as soon as everything settled down. On the whole though, he had a good feeling.

It wasn't anything as solid as a premonition, but Flash thought that with a little work, this team could become something real. Something people could believe in.

Oracle interrupted his musings. "We have coordinates for all currently active, hot zones. Their Commander was not aboard their command ship when John Stuart took it down. I'm Making locating him and Lord Hawkgirl top priority. In the mean time, Gear, would you and Red Arrow assist with deploying the heroes at our disposal.

* * *

 


	31. Chapter 31

To the world Oracle -- Barbara Gordon -- might as well have been dead. She had been attacked by the Joker in the final months before the Flash had been killed and she had never come out of the coma it had put her in.

At least that was what the world thought.

She had worked very hard to maintain that illusion.

She hadn’t come out of the attack unscathed; she was paralyzed from the waist down, but she was still as active as any hero, even if she worked on a different field.

That night was different though. No more hiding, there wasn’t time, or bandwidth for it. Gear was processing most of the information but she still had to prioritise, and search through all of the communication channels they could get ahold of. Every traffic camera and satellite the Lords or Batman had ever had access to was being routed through her supercomputers and being analyzed  for tactical patterns and facial recognition.

She would find Commander Tallok, and Lord Hawkgirl. If there was nothing else, she could at least do that much.

 

***

 

Supergirl happened to notice Green Lantern waving in her direction and paused in punching holes the side of one slowly sinking starship. She tapped at her Lord communicator and a moment later was patched into the watchtower feed.

“Supergirl.” Came a voice she vaguely recognised as Gear. “There are two ships headed for Superman’s fortress, but the fortress defense systems are attacking anyone I send down there. Green Lantern’s got the watchtower defense covered. Get in here and I’ll teleport you planetside.”

“No need.” She said and looked down at the planet glowing beneath her. She took a moment to aim, finding the glittering spires of the Fortress of Solitude, before dropping towards the planet.

 

***

 

Zatanna sent the knowledge of what was happening back through the magical refugees with the help of a quick mindlink spell. Not all of them were combat capable, but some were, and to those she sent a silent request for help. She didn’t really expect a response. Maybe a few would step forward, but the response she got was overwhelming.

So many, willing to help, simply because she had asked. She took a moment to steady herself, then started listing off the names of those she believed combat capable. Oracle took the list with a small acknowledgment and sent them off across the world.

 

***

 

Wildcat and Black Canary were dropped in Chicago without even interrupting their Banter.

“But seriously Ted you should have told me you were still alive. I’d have done something for your birthday, what are you up to now?”

“Nine lives doll and you’re only as old as you feel. Got to say though, that joke was funnier back when your mom made it.”

Canary patted his shoulder. “That’s not quite how your mom jokes go.”

They were finally interrupted as Vixen joined them, slashing several hawks out of the sky and herding the rest into the range of Black Canary’s sonic scream.

 

***

 

Hank and Don were already used to working together, so when they were dropped onto a street corner in downtown Memphis, they each only had to say one word before they were in motion.

“Hawk!”

“Dove!”

The Thanagarians were trained as soldiers. They had been trained to work together; but Hawk and Dove were brothers. They hadn’t just trained together, they’d played, ate, hung out, talked, and lived out of each others pockets. They’d grown up together.

When Dove slipped sideways to send two of his opponents tangling together, Hawk knew without thinking that he’d curve up and to the left. When Hawk bore down on the first group of Thanagarians, Dove knew to come around from the outside and sweep them in his direction.

When they were surrounded they fought back to back. Dove easily dodging blows and flitting through the air with as much freedom as any of his opponents. Hawk fought the thanagarians on their own level; slamming in close and taking advantage of every weak spot.  He’d picked up one of the Thanagarian war axes near the start. The thanagarian soldiers knew how to fight their own, and their numbers bore down on Hawk. He welcomed it. The spirit of War that gave him his power reveling in the bloodshed. Hawk let himself sink into the berserker rage.

 

***

 

The cowboy resistance member Vigilante, skidded to a stop on the streets of Dallas. “Hoy, Birdbrains!” He called, firing off a few shots into the sky. The thanagarians turned. With one last shot aimed back behind him, Vigilante swung his motorcycle around and gunned it. Three blocks later he had a whole flock bearing down on his heels.

“Hey, anyone up there hearing me? I could use some backup.”

“I read you.” came the answer from his improvised radio. “Give me a sec.”

Vigilante made a sharp left twisting around a corner and running a red light that was luckily empty. Everyone smart had cleared off the streets. A golden glow appeared two blocks up, only for a white horse to come through, galloping and beating a pair of silver gilded wings. The knight riding the horse let out a war cry.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Vigilante had to blink for a second before he spun his motorcycle around, kicked the front tire up and let out a cry of his own.

 

***

 

Beast Boy tore through the air around LA changing shape every other second. Farther inland boulders the size of couches were being tossed through the air like juggling balls. The two heroes fought to keep the hawks off the streets, but the enemy’s numbers were slowly forcing them apart. Beast Boy became a pterodactyl, an armadillo, a hummingbird, until he changed at the wrong time and was knocked to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.

He reverted to his normal form, shaking his head before yelping at the attacks that were still coming. A pair of thanagarians had followed his fall and were clearly aiming to finish him off. He tried to shift, but his mind had gone blank and he was out of time.

A figure stepped between Beast Boy and his attackers, it’s form shifting as it raised it’s arms. Broad shoulders became flexible, shifting from earth brown to steel grey. The hawks tried to break their dive but had no room, and slammed into the steel wall that had suddenly appeared. The wall shifted, hands reaching out and grabbing the thanagarians. It smashed them together then dropped them unconscious to the ground.

Beast Boy looked up at the other shifter, slowly raising to his feet. “Nice, Thanks for the save.”

The figure resolved into a broad shouldered man made of clay. “Ah, you’re welcome.” his voice was like gravel grinding together.

“Haven’t seen you in the hero circles before, what’s your name? Mud Man?” An explosion sent a shockwave through the air above them. “Actually, hold that thought. You know how to fly?”

“Not really, never tried.”

“Okay, cover us then.” Beast Boy launched himself back into the sky.

Matt looked after him, shook his head slightly, then looked around for the next target.

 

***

 

Gotham was under a blockade. The thanagarians had come down hard on the Dark Knight’s city. The streets were under complete lockdown, anyone even moving around was captured for questioning, and executed on the spot if they resisted. After two years under the rule of Lord Batman, the city had mostly gone quietly. There were a few however that were making their presence known.

Jason Todd had been on Bruce’s watch list since just after the Lords had taken out president Luthor. He probably would have walked a very dark path if crime hadn’t been cut down to practically nothing. Instead he’d found his way to a boys home where he learned anything anyone would teach him and developed a set of moral codes no one understood but him. One day he would help the resistance pull robin hood type heists, and the next day he’d be turning in those same partners because they’d said the wrong thing when he was in a mood. He was currently walking down the center of Franklin with a red motorcycle helmet and a pair of semi-automatics.

Tim Drake had never made it onto Bruce’s radar but he’d been on Oracle’s since he’d tried to hack into the batcave a year and a half ago. She’s covered his tracks and tried to divert his attention, but he was as stubborn as anyone she’d ever worked with. In addition he was extremely talented, and she’d ended up feeding him more information than she’d originally intended. He’d been teetering on the edge of action for a few months now. If the thanagarians hadn’t attacked, he would have either joined the resistance or confronted Bruce directly, before much longer. At some point he had made a costume and he was now planting mini-explosives on every thanagarian transport he could access.

Oracle hadn’t known about Damian Wayne until three months ago, but she’d had access to Cassandra Cain’s file for quite a while. Somehow the two had found each other, joined forces and snuck into the city. They were an incredible pair who were currently raising hell at the Wayne Tower Plaza.

Under any other circumstances Oracle wouldn’t have called any of them into action, but at the moment they were who she had to work with. The Hawks had set up a teleportation blocker so she couldn’t even pull in others to assist. Not that there was anyone who could be spared. Still, never let it be said that she wasn’t adaptable.

Tim was the only one she had radio contact with, but it didn’t take long to push Red Hood towards the Tower Plaza as well. Once they were all in the same area, they took care of things without any further prodding from her.

Of course, once the Hawks were down the four fighters started sizing up each other. Even Damian and Cassandra seemed to have some friction between them. It took only a moment to take over the screens built into the towers and get their attention. For once she went with her Batgirl persona. This particular group of people would have greater respect for that mask, rather than the faceless hacker.  

When the screen flickered to life all four of them raised weapons in her direction, changing her first words too: “I am not your enemy.”

Red hood scoffed, and turned away. Damian sheathed his sword and made to do the same.

“I have work for you.” She said in the tone a tone that would not take no for an answer; the tone she had learned from Bruce.

Red Hood turned back to the big screen, pointing his knife up at her image. “Give me one good reason why the hell should I answer to you.”

It would be the only chance she got to convince him, maybe Damian as well. Tim would probably stay, and Cassandra looked interested at the very least but Gotham needed all of them.

“I’ll give you three. First: I know who you are, who all of you are. I know your records. I know what you’ve been trained to do and I know that the four of you are more skilled than this. You could break the quarantine on Gotham, but instead you’re just blindly attacking what’s right in front of you.

“Which brings me to my second point. This is bigger than you. I’m coordinating with both the resistance and the remains of the Lords forces in an effort to get these invaders off our planet. Trust me or not I can tell you that you will not be getting any backup. Our forces are stretched too thin. Working together, striking at targets that actually matter, will give you an infinitely better chance of not only survival but victory. You need my intel and I need your skill.”

“Fuck you.” Red Hood turned and started to walk away.

“Point three: Batman.”

Red Hood stopped. He didn’t turn back around but Barbara knew she had the full attention of the group once more. “You all have your reasons for wanting to meet with him. I will be the first to admit, he has a lot to answer for. Help me, protect this city, his city and I’ll make sure it happens.”

“Assuming we all survive.” Tim threw in with a wry smile.

“Assuming you are capable of fulfilling that promise, answer me this. Why isn’t he here now?” Damian's gaze was pointed. He had found the camera she was using just above the screen and it was like he was staring straight into her.

“He is currently in space. He snuck aboard one of the Thanagarian ships. I do not know what his plan is.”

His eyes held her for another minute before he turned away, looking at the other members of the group.

“Well I’m in.” Tim said with a shrug.

Cassandra walked over to stand beside him and nodded.

“If you break your word I will hunt you down for it.” Damian stated.

Red Hood threw his hands in the air and turned back to the camera. “Fine, just give me a target.”

Barbara took a breath. “Here’s what you need to do...”

  
  


***

 

Billy Batson requested he be sent back to Fawcett City. No one wanted to send a child into a war zone, but there was no one protecting his home, and eventually he found someone who caved in.

He looked up at the ships hovering over his home from the center of an abandoned street. He took a breath, planted his feet and spoke a single word.

Lightning cut through the cloudless sky. Two of the smaller fighters were caught in it’s path and blasted apart before it lanced down to it’s target. A white cape billowed out over a red and gold uniform, and Captain Marvel launched into the sky.

 

***

 

Fire launched herself into the sky above Miami. The resistance had asked her to go undercover, monitoring the port and this was definitely blowing her cover but screw it. Evil alien invasions came first, especially when they blasted her favorite cafe on the boardwalk.

She was smaller than the ships and more maneuverable, but, they had greater speed. When she was powered up, wearing her green flames like she was made of them, she made an excellent target for anything that had heatseeking capabilities.

Fire wove through the ships, trying to keep too close to the enemy for them to have a clear shot. It worked at first. The fighter ships couldn’t catch her long enough to take a shot. Then a squadron of their soldiers took wing, chasing her with axes and swords. Her hand to hand was a bit rusty, given that most people she fought couldn’t touch her. The Thanagarians seemed to have thicker skin than most though.

They darted in close. She aimed for their weapons at first, but the strange alien steel didn’t melt like it should. After that she hadn’t been discriminate about her targets. She sent out flare after flare but she was so far outnumbered that it was like fighting the tide. She was pushed lower, surrounded, her few advantages cut off.

One of them managed to get in a lucky shot, and pain lanced up her left side. She fell, down towards the harbor, trying to rekindle her flames and catch her fall. There wasn’t enough room.

Out of nowhere an arctic wind curled around her and a slide of ice caught her, guiding her to a safe landing on solid ground. Fire looked up at the woman in the white and blue uniform, taking in the frost covering her forearms.

“Thanks for the save.”

“You’re welcome. Oracle thought you could use some help down here.”

“Great, how’s your aim?”

Ice grinned. “Try me.”

Fire called up her flames again and pushed into the sky, drawing the enemy into her new ally’s line of fire.

 

***

 

Bruce had taken the helm of the Thanagarian prison ship, with Ted Kord acting as co-pilot. Since John Stuart had taken down the Command ship it was the single largest ship in the fleet and the default fall back point for the enemy. There had already been three attempts to retake the ship. Luckily the new Green Lantern and Captain Atom were covering the perimeter, blasting away anything that got too close. It gave them a chance to get the civilians back down to earth.

When he had snuck aboard the ship he had been working off a worst case scenario. With the Lords gone there was no one left to defend the planet. Yet somehow the resistance had rallied despite the fact that they were still floundering at the loss of Green Arrow and the capture of Red Arrow.

The Lieutenants had regrouped of course, and they had been joined by others. Retired heroes who had willingly stepped back from the fight, and newcomers like Ted who had never put on a mask but certainly had the skills. Monsters Bruce knew for a fact had been imprisoned, rampaged; and yes they were doing considerable damage but it was mostly directed at the enemy.

Oracle was guiding the new heroes, aiming them at the most critical targets. His Barbara, so quiet and timid these last two years, now come into her own and shining.

He had been ready to face an occupied world. To do what he could to cripple the Thanagarian fleet and then retreat. He had a dozen different plans for a dozen different worst case scenarios; and because of these young heroes the possibility of needing to implement them was shrinking rapidly.

All except one. Even assuming they were victorious on the planet below. The larger fleet. including the ship he was on, would still be floating over their heads. An orbital attack as a last attempt to purge the planet, and every battle won would be for nothing. Not that it would matter over much if the battles on the planet below were lost.

Bruce let Ted and Max Lord take the lead coordinating with the heroes, retreating to the shadows where he belonged. Quietly setting his own plans in motion.

 

***

 

The Thanagarian Armada was mostly focusing it’s forces on the Americas, specifically the United States. In the rest of the world it was some varying hour of the night and since the first thing the invaders had done was block communications, there were sections of the globe that slept in their beds with no inclination of what was happening.

The edges though were very aware. As evening sank over the western edge of europe, ships were descending on London, Paris and Madrid. On the opposite side of the planet, Japan was waking up to find they were living out the plot of a cliche anime.

Oracle called on the big guns, and sent the most experienced heroes at her disposal across the globe.

Allen Scott appeared in the Skies over Tokyo catching the enemy with constructs of green light that burned to the touch. The battlefield spread for miles along the coastline, and Allen hovered in the sky over the city, his arms outstretched as if conducting an orchestra. Not a single hawk made it to the ground.

Doctor Fate didn’t bother with the teleporter. He simply appeared in the air over France as if he’d always been there. He turned to his companion, exchanging measuring looks with the white and green figure of the Specter. The Specter nodded back with the same level of cautious respect. They turned away, one north the other south, and screams followed in their wake as they moved across the sky.

 

***

 

Metropolice was shattered. The whole city had seen Green Lantern’s fall, the capture of the other heroes, and Lord Superman was nowhere to be found. Citizens huddled in their homes, holding their loved one’s close.

The city of the future had been the site of the first attack and it had fallen.

Hawks patrolled the streets and skies, their ships hovering between the buildings and, parked in the middle of intersections. A full communication blackout was in effect.

In the shadows of the battle ravaged towers, two figures moved. Huntress peeked around the side of a building and cursed.

“They’re blocking the subway. We won't be able to slip in this way. It figures, we finally get some dirt on Superman the resistance can actually use and we get trapped in the middle of an alien invasion.”  She looked around at her partner. Question was still going through the contents of the tablet they had scrounged from one of Luthor’s old bolt holes.

“Did you know there were 240 pedestrian fatalities in Metropolis in 1994?”

Huntress considered that. Since they had started teaming up she had learned that his random facts actually had a purpose about fifty percent of the time. Figuring out if this was one of those times was the tricky bit. “Okay, unless you’re suggesting we steal a car and try to run them over I have no idea how that’s relevant.”

Question pointed past her shoulder at where one of the Thanagarian fighter jets was parked a long block away. “Not a car.”

Huntress half turned and smiled “I like the way you think.”

 

***

 

“Star Labs in San Francisco just went up!” Gear reported and the level of chaos in the watchtower went up a notch or two. “Looks like someone grabbed some tech and tried to fight back. It brought down at least one ship but I’m now reading tremors across the city. Could be building up to a major quake.”

“I’ve got Sandman on the way.” Red Arrow called from across the room.

“Understood, a team with evacuation skills needed.” Nightwing added the information to Oracle’s systems.

Flash tried to step forward since Speedsters were perfect for evacuation work but Jesse Quick caught his arm and pushed him back. “We’ve got this red.” before volunteering herself Hourman and Damage.

Wally fell back. He was at loose ends. Everyone else seemed to have something to do. Nightwing was assisting Oracle. Red Arrow was coordinating with Oracle and the resistance. Static was monitoring and maintaining the watchtower teleporter systems. Zatanna was coordinating with her people and providing transport spells when they needed to send down more people at once. Even Green Lantern, a kid who’d had his powers less than a day, was covering them all from attack.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to slow down. He needed to be ready, not so on edge that he wore himself out before the battle even started. A figure stepped up next to him and he glanced sideways at Stargirl. She’d lost her staff somewhere and she looked a lot younger with her arms wrapped around herself.

“Is it always like this?”

The teleporters flashed and sent the latest trio of heroes down to the battlefield. Almost immediately Commander Steel and Plastic Man requested backup and Animal Man appeared for a few seconds as he was picked up before being sent off again. Jay Garrick and Doctor Light were in Seattle trying to minimize casualties from another Star Labs explosion.

Flash took another slow breath. “No.” He smiled down at Stargirl. “I know this looks crazy but trust me it could be a lot worse.”  Before he could go on the watchtower shook. Alarms started sounding and steel panels slid over the armored glass of the windows, blocking Green Lantern’s haloed figure from sight.

“We’ve lost the teleporter!” Static shouted.

At the same time Nightwing called out. “Hull breach!”

The speed that had been fighting to swamp Flash fell on him and the world abruptly stopped. He looked around and assessed the situation. Zatanna could still teleport people out of there, but she couldn’t send everyone at once. The way she had explained it, the more people she tried to send, the longer it would take. A glance over Nightwing’s monitor indicated that they had three minutes before the watchtower became a hunk of space debris. Enough time to send two maybe three people.

There were 8 people on the watchtower, not including the captured thanagarian guards. Nightwing, Static, Red Arrow, Stargirl, Zatanna, Firestorm, Katana, and himself. There wasn’t enough time. He wasn’t fast enough.

A tenth of a second ticked by.

Flash pulled himself in. Again forcing himself to go faster. It was true he couldn’t move fast enough to save everyone, but he might just be able to think fast enough to save everyone. He needed all the angles he needed to look at all the possibilities, he needed to think outside the box.

Or outside the watchtower. Green Lantern was outside, He could protect all of them if he knew what to do.

Flash moved. He sacrificed a fraction of a second to tell Zatanna to get as many people out as she could in case this didn’t work. Then he started in on the armored plating. Heat friction wasn’t something he had cause to harness often. Most of the time he went out of his way to make sure things didn’t melt in his wake, but on occasion it came in handy.

He vibrated his arms from the elbow down and plunged them into the metal over the windows. The steel panels were thick enough that they melted in steady globlets. It felt agonizingly slow to Flash but he carefully carved out letters of red hot metal. He couldn’t get them out, but if he could let Green Lantern know where they were and that they needed rescuing, he could.

Behind him in slow motion he heard Zatanna say. “Og kcab ot htrae.” and Katana and firestorm, the closest figures to her vanished.

Flash looked around at the others. expressions of panic were on some faces. Others were concentrating, desperately trying to figure out a way out. Nightwing met Flash’s eyes for a brief moment, He’d seen the letters.

Then a green bubble slipped through the cracks and surrounded them. Green Lantern pulled them out of the side of the satellite and they started falling towards the planet. in their wake they could see that a full third of the watchtower’s mass had been cut away and scattered.

The Lord’s stronghold was gone.

“I’m getting us out of here.” Green Lantern said. “They grounded Captain Atom and they’ve been swarming that prison ship. Please tell me this was part of the plan.”

Flash shook his head. They had just lost the ultimate high ground and there was next to no chance of getting it back. They’d been lucky once. It wouldn’t happen again. On the planet the battles were mostly falling in their favor, but the Thanagarians could still rally together…

Static put a hand to his ear. “Gear? Yeah I hear you man. We lost the watchtower. I don’t think --” he stopped mid sentence, and looked up. “Oracle found them, Tallok and Hawkgirl. Gear Says they’re in Washington.”

“Green Lantern.” Flash didn’t know how his voice sounded so steady. Maybe it was just that he could see the finish line and win or lose the race was about to end.

Kyle nodded, looked down at the earth and let them fall.

  
  
  



	32. Chapter 32

 

“We’re cut off from the watchtower.” Ted Kord yelled over the alarms.

“How many got off.” Bruce didn’t look up from his rewiring.

“Max Lord was the last one. We’re the only humans left on this dump. Come on. We need to get out of here.” Ted looked over his shoulder and froze. “What are you doing?”

Bruce ignored the question. “Get out of here. I’ll distract them as long as I can.”

“That’s what you call a distraction. If you rewire the reactor into the electrical like that you’ll blow up everything on this side of the hemisphere.”

“The atmosphere will protect the planet. You should go.”

Ted blinked “You’re not planning on leaving.”

“I’ll buy you as much time as I can.” Bruce said again. His voice had slipped lower, into the Batman range and a passing thought noted that this would be much easier if he was in uniform. Then he could just glare at Ted and order him to go. He was the last of the Lords to have a secret identity. The Last of the Lords at all now. Their time was done one way or another.

Ted set his jaw then turned away. Bruce dismissed him. He continued his task, working his way through the alien system, and bending it to his will.

In the background Ted said something into the coms and pressed at buttons. He turned to the door, looking down the hall. Then he bit his lip, sealed the passage, and went for the weapons locker.

“You should go.” Bruce aimed his glare down at his hands.

“I think we both know my odds of actually getting out of here.” Ted picked up an energy blade then tossed it aside in favor of a gold hooked staff. Bruce made a few last minute adjustments to his calculations and waited for the enemy to come in range.

  
  


\---

  
  


There was a single mid-sized Thanagarian ship parked on the White House lawn, outside the big picture windows of the oval office. The glass in those windows had been broken, scattered in fragments over the grass and the interior alike. Members of the secret service and other uniformed personnel had been tossed aside and left to lie or bleed out. The Thanagarian Commander H’row Tallok, stood over the president of the United States, his wings spread and his lieutenants, flanking him.

“Zatanna, when we touch down give me two minutes to get the non-combatants out of the area, then set up a barrier. We’re not going to want any extra company.” Flash kept his voice low. His team was descending almost silently and it didn’t seem like anyone had noticed them yet. The whole team wore serious expressions and Flash had been the first to speak since they’d entered the atmosphere.

Zatanna nodded.

“She’ll need someone to cover her.”

Before Flash could weigh the pros and cons Nightwing spoke up. “I’ve got it.”

The others readied their weapons and took a final breath before the storm broke.

The Hawks saw them a minute or so before Green Lantern opened his bubble an inch over the grass. Neither side wasted time with words.

 

\---

 

Flash let the speed take over, old training that was never really forgotten, coming back into play as he crisscrossed the sweeping lawn. He didn’t try to figure out who was dead or who was merely unconscious, he just picked them up as carefully as he could and set them down in rows outside the gates of the estate.

Zatanna had started muttering under her breath before her feet touched the ground. With an extravagant gesture she cupped her hands, a bubble appearing between her barely touching fingertips. Nightwing met her eyes, nodded and drew a pair of rods. He settled into his stance and waited for the attack he knew would come.

  
  


\---

 

Green Lantern dropped the others on the lawn and launched himself at the four figures. He imagined a sword and his ring brought it into existence. Tallok stepped forward, scowling at him and drawing a sword of his own in one fluid movement. Energy sizzled as their weapons met. With a sweep on his wings Commander Tallok forced Green Lantern up into the air and chased after him.

Green Lantern moved instinctively, weaving through the air. His earlier battles in space were actually helping him think in three dimensions. Tallok moved just as easily with years of experience in aerial combat.

GL abandoned his sword construct after the second blow jared his arm up to his shoulder. He put some distance between them, circling. Kyle wasn’t violent by nature. He played video games and that was about it. Destroying ships was one thing, that was nothing compared to having his opponent right there, snarling at him. He hesitated, trying to come up with some construct that would work.

Tallok sneared. “You know, I was actually worried about the other Green Lantern, but you? You’re barely a fledgling. No training, no talent, no experience. You’re brave but in this case, it’s just stupidity.”

A flash of anger and determination flash through him. Green Lantern poured energy through his ring and wove his ideas into reality. Retro-style rockets and toy fighter planes launched at the thanagarian commander one after another; each either cut down by his blade or knocked aside and smashed, by his wings.

“You can’t keep your constructs from breaking. At least John Stuart put up a fight, died with honor. You’ll be just another notch on my sword.” Tallok had taken the high ground while Green Lantern was distracted. He lashed out, silver energy covering his sword, and rippling over his wings like some ancient war god. Green Lantern flinched, and his latest construct flickered out, as Commander Tallok plummeted down on him.

  
  


\---

  
  


Red Arrow let his first arrow fly the moment Green Lantern’s bubble retreated. There may have been four hawks on the ground but he only saw one target. He’d been fighting the Lords for too long for his sights not to find Lord Hawkgirl even if her uniform was different and her wings were mechanical. He picked out two arrows from his quiver without stopping to think about strategies. He knew which arrows he fired by their weight and fletching. First a stunner arrow, then only seconds later a bola-arrow.

Hawk Girl met his eyes after he’d already let the second one fly. She let out a war cry. Her new wings were too heavy and clumsy for a fast takeoff. Instead she dug in her heels raised her mace and flapped one wing like a giant fan through the air. His first arrow was knocked out of the air, burying itself in the dirt, the second she batted aside.

Red Arrow was running forward, another arrow flying and a fourth on the string. Hawkgirl twisted, and brought her other wing down. Red held his arrow, bracing himself against the gusts. He timed his shot and loosed the arrow. Hawkgirl charged straight into it, catching the steel tip in the leather over her shoulder and plowing forward despite any damage.

Red knocked three arrows and sent them flying, she was so close now he could hardly miss. But she was using her wings as shields and the attack glanced off. Then Hawkgirl was too close. He stepped in, ducking under her mace and slamming a fist into her side. Hawkgirl twisted with the blow, shoving her weight against him. Red Arrow planted one foot, gripped his bow with both hands, and swung.

The strike whipped across Hawkgirl’s face catching in the wings on her helmet and twisting it around. The bow string snapped with a single high note. Hawkgirl screamed, blood dripping from her jaw and nose. She lashed out, the steel of her wings cut across Red Arrow and threw him across the battlefield.

  
  


\---

  
  


Static clenched his fists. He took a moment to gather his power. He’d been going full speed ahead for a while and even though he’d had a chance to steal a charge off the watchtower, He was getting worn down. It took no breach of pride to let Red Arrow and Green Lantern target the two more dangerous opponents. He drew a beet on Tallok’s lieutenant, Creagor. The Hawk was built lean with the short sharp wings that would give him maneuverability and speed. Instead of the standard sword or ax that the Thanagarians seemed to favor he had a pair of Nth metal gauntlets that went all the way up to his elbows. Static took a few running steps and sent a bolt of lightning into the center of his mass.

Creagor hadn't rushed forward into battle. He stood calm and half turned away, providing a smaller target. His eyes caught Static's attack, but instead of dodging he simply raised a hand to block. He caught the bolt of lightning like a baseball. For a moment the energy seemed to engulf him, then he drew himself in and hurled the energy back.

Static missed a step and went to one knee as he caught the redirect. It was his own energy but twisted slightly and it faught him even as he hurled it back again in some deadly parody of a game of catch.

Creagor easily caught the energy, twisting it between his gloves like a cats cradle. Static went rigid as the power changed from bright yellow to an angry red. This time Static didn't try to catch it. He dodged, rolling over the grass and coming up less then two yards from his opponent.

Static's first impulse was to wrap energy around his hands and go in close, but those gauntlets would likely prove deadly if he followed that instinct. Instead Static snatched up one of his shock boxes, tossing it at Creagor's feet. The discharge was too sudden and not directed enough for Creagor to catch. The second shock box made him stumble back a pace.

 

\---

 

Stargirl held back when they landed, waiting to see who would be left for her. Oracle had described the Thanagarian science officer well enough that Stargirl could pick her out. Parin was tall and whip-cord lean, she was also brandishing one of the energy spears that some of the guards had using before. Stargirl darted sideways weaving back and forth, but always keeping her eyes on the woman. If she could get close enough, she was fairly sure she could use her strength to surprise her.

Parin watched Green Lantern Charge at Tallok. Then the Zatanna's shield when up and she turned heading for their parked ship. She flapped her wings lightly, lifting eight feet off the ground with the ease of someone skipping. She hadn't given Stargirl any credit, so when Stargirl leapt up, grabbed Parin's leg and slammed her back into the ground, it came as a complete surprise.

Stargirl locked the spear under one arm and twisted her hips wrenching it from the Hawk's grip. Parin cursed in an alien language, and raked her clawed gloves across Stargirl's face. The hero cried out falling back and spinning the spear up in a defensive curve. It forced some distance between them.

When Stargirl focused in on her opponent again blood was dripping from the slashes on her cheek and Parin was already diving in again. She wildly took aim with the spear and fired off a handful of shots. None hit but it was enough to make Parin twist in the air. A flap of her wings and Parin had the sun at her back. She fell on the hero like a falcon taking down a rabbit. Stargirl tried to swing the spear, but even as she moved she knew it wasn't going to work.

The red bolt of energy came out of nowhere, catching both opponents in it's field. Stargirl cried out, only for a very different red blur to grab her around the middle. She blinked and found herself halfway across the lawn, hair crackling with discharged energy, but standing on her own two feet.

 

\---

 

Nightwing took two running steps and stopped Red Arrow before he could go head over heels. Red Arrow was bleeding, from a gash on his chest but it was superficial thanks to the strap of his quiver. The leather that had previously crossed his chest had been sliced through.  

Nightwing tossed a pair of smoke pellets at Hawkgirl to buy a few moments. “Do you have a spare bowstring?”

Red Arrow bit out a curse, then “Side pocket of my quiver.”

Nightwing took the bow, dodging Red Arrow’s grabby hands, and reached for the quiver. Red Arrow pushed himself to his feet, starting to protest, but Hawkgirl swept away the smoke and she was on them.

Nightwing flipped back to avoid the first sweep of her mase. Red Arrow took a different approach. He stepped in and tried to block. Hawkgirl triggered the electricity in her weapon. Red Arrow fell back, kicking out even as he fell. His sweep nearly took her legs out from under her, and she flapped her wings hard to regain her balance.

That was when Nightwing brought up the restrung bow and loosed the first arrow he laid his hands on. The steel tip embedded in the joint of her wing, sending sparks from the ruined metal joint.

The tips of Red Arrow’s hair was still standing on the ends but he managed to steady himself enough to plow a fist up into Hawkgirl’s side. The Ex-Lord took the blow, falling back a half step before lashing out with a kick aimed at Red Arrow’s head.

The Green Explosion from above Blinded Red Arrow a second or two before the blow connected.

 

\---

  
  


Green Lantern brought his arms up in a desperate defence, the ring providing sheets of light between himself and the diving Hawk. Tallok’s gold armor flashed as he broke through one barrier after another, finally slamming into Green Lantern.

The ring let out a frantic flash of explosive light as Green Lantern was knocked from the Sky. It was enough that Tallok cried out, flapping his wings in a desperate grab for height.

The Thanagarian Commander blinked the  green from his vision and found himself looking down at the battlefield. This fight should have been easily won. They had already taken out the planet’s most powerful defenders. This rag-tag group of heroes was merely the final desperate attempt of a dying people. Still they were proving too dangerous not to take seriously. His people were fighting strong but they were outnumbered and already the heroes had managed to land a few blows.

His decision was made. An overwhelming show of force was what was needed here. It was the spirit that needed to be broken, more then the body. He gave the order. The dome was keeping them here but also keeping everyone else out. The only person who could have been creating or controlling such a thing was the one who had not entered combat even peripherally.

Tallok set his sights on the dark witch. He sheathed his sword in one practiced motion and unhooked his blasting rod from his belt.  He steadied his flight with a strong flap of his wings and took aim.

 

\---

 

Parin blinked at where her opponent had been. For a moment she looked around as if Stargirl might have been setting an ambush, then Tallok gave the order and she turned back to the ship. He was right, taking down the dome was the highest priority.

Again she turned to her their ship, and this time no one intercepted her. She slid into the pilot’s seat and with a moment’s work the ship was hovering two feet over the grass. She didn’t try to fly away. She sneared at the thought of needing to escape. Again Parin’s hands reached for the controls, this time the radio. Her call sign went out but all she got back was static. She switched frequencies, tried every combination she knew but no one answered her.

The wall that was keeping them in was blocking transmissions. Fine then. With the flip of a switch Parin started charging the weapons system.

On a whim she switched on the external camera’s as well. A visual record of the last heroes being crushed might be useful.

\---

 

Red Arrow was too close to Hawkgirl for Nightwing to get a clean shot. He knew how to use a bow, but it wasn’t his best weapon. Then the green explosion cut the sky and Nightwing looked up in time to see Lantern falling and Tallok aiming some kind of weapon at a spot just behind Nightwing.

It was fast as thought. He saw the angles and raised the bow, and had another arrow up and ready. The arrow tore through the air with a whistling shrek and that made Tallok flinch back and shield himself.

The second arrow  unfurled into a net, spiraling through the air, and trying to tangle the Hawk’s wings. Tallok slashed at it, flapping his wings harder. He rose another dozen feet, and the wind from his downstroke caught the light strands, sending it tangling to the ground.

Nightwing loosed another arrow, almost straight up, and Tallok blasted it out of the sky.

\---

 

Flash saw the green explosion and was under the falling Lantern a moment later. A small vortex created a cushion of air. By the time Flash was setting GL on his feet he was blinking and mostly aware.

Stargirl had taken slightly longer to realize what was happening, but she was beside them a minute later. She kept her eyes on the fight as she gasped out. “We need a plan.”

Flash looked at the battlefield.

Static was struggling with Creagor. He’d taken to magnetizing objects, throwing the fragments of the window, and spent arrows at him. Creagor was smirking as he batted the objects away. He was playing a longer game, waiting for Static to tire, or run out of power.

Nightwing was currently tieing up Tallok but he’d run out of arrows in a minute. when that happened Zatanna would be a sitting duck.

Red Arrow was fighting with Hawkgirl. They seemed to be on even footing as far as skill was concerned but Hawkgirl’s greater strength meant each blow landed did that much more damage.

And then there was the ship that was powering up….

Flash mentally kicked himself, he needed to get his head in the game.He’d just been running around, reacting. He needed to take control of this fight.

He took a moment to retrieve the staff that Satrgirl and PArin had been fighting over, pushing it into Stargirl’s hands. “Back up Red Arrow.” He forced his voice into a steady hard note. Made the sentence an order. Stargirl didn’t even think to question it.

“Green Lantern, I want you to pin down Creagor. Tell Static I want Commander Tallok, grounded.” Flash paused only long enough that he was sure GL was following his directions, before he fixed his sights on the ship.

 

\---

 

Red Arrow’s vision was spinning. He fought to keep his arms up, but Hawkgirl kept landing hits. The familiar feeling of a concussion was falling over him.  He staggered and knew that was it.

Stargirl stepped into the gap bringing her staff down on a diagonal that connected with Hawkgirl’s injured wing. Hawkgirl screamed as the mechanical joint crumpled. Stargirl stepped in, giving Red Arrow a moment to breath. Hawkgirl swung up with her mace, but Stargirl made a small twist with one wrist and pushed it aside, stabbing in with the blasting point. Hawkgirl twisted sideways, grabbing the staff and using it like a fulcrum.

The Cosmic Belt may have granted Stargirl super strength but her mass remained the same. She went with the throw, flipping over the spear, but managing to hold on.

Red Arrow blinked his eyes clear, and stepped back into the fight.

 

\---

 

This time Green Lantern didn’t charge in. He stepped forward to stand beside Static and held out his fist. He fired off a pair of quick bolts as Static threw the last of his shock boxes at Creagor.

“I’ve got this. Want to switch?”

“What? Can’t handle their top dog?” Static was panting but there was a mocking note in his voice.

“Think you can do better?”

Static snorted, but he took out his flying disk and tossed it down beside his feet as Green Lantern laid down cover fire.

Creagor growled, his eyes darting back and forth between the two heroes. He clenched his fists, gathering power into his gauntlets. He couldn’t absorb the lantern energy like he could Static’s electricity, but the Nth metal had it’s own advantages.

Green Lantern took a breath. when fighting Tallok he had been too unfocused. The ring needed his thoughts to create constructs. If he believed, if he was focused, than he was strong. The ring worked off Will... so he willed himself to win.

Creagor shouted something in his language and fired off a tree of white lightning. Green Lantern was ready for it. He spun a classic Ben Franklin style kite, and who cared about the science and the accuracy, it looked freakin awesome.

 

\---

 

Flash focused his attentions on the ship. The guns were clearly targeting Zatanna, and that just couldn’t be allowed.

He raced forward, getting as close as he could to the gunns and trying to figure them out. Unfortunately there weren’t any obvious parts or wires showing that he could yank out. Distraction then. He took a running jump up onto the hull and tapped on the glass of the cockpit.

“Hello miss, I’m going to ask you to move. This is a no parking zone.”

Parin snarled and pulled out her pistol.

Flash vanished sprinting around to the other side of the cockpit and tapping on the other window. “Independence Day called, they want their plot point back.” This time she jerked on the controls trying to throw him off, and spinning the ship in the process. Flash switched windows again. “I know you probably don’t know much about earth culture but it’s normally men who overcompensate.”  

This time she did manage to send him flying.

Flash tumbled rolling over the grass and managing to push to his feet only in time to look down the barrel of her blasters. A red light flared and Flash twisted, pulling in speed. His own afterimage mixed with the energy trail of the blast as he turned and tried to push the light barrier. The barrier came up in front of him a micro-fraction of a second later and he plowed a trench in the ground trying to turn. The beam cut through the space just over his right shoulder, and if it wasn’t for his cowl he probably would have lost that ear. Then the barrier rippled and the blast just vanished.

Flash took a breath, and looked back at the ship. for Parin it had been less then a second. She was only just letting up on the trigger. Flash jumped out of the trench he’d made and headed to a spot in front of the ship. He posed, hands on hips and plastered a smile on his face, despite being as close to out of breath as he’d been in years.

“Over here.”

Her computer automatically retargeted and fired.

Again Flash blurred and reappeared, this time slightly to the left. “Come on, it can’t be that hard to hit me.”

She fired again.

 

\---

 

Static took to the air and homed in on Tallok. The thanagarian commander was fending off arrows from below, and trying to aim some weapon at Zatanna. Static noticed the lack of electric gauntlets and coated his fists in power.  

Tallok saw the new opponent in time to get his sword half way out of his scabbard. Static caught the blade just above the hilt where it was dull. There was so much energy humming through the metal that it rang. The discharge was violent.

Satic was thrown back through the air, only managing to right himself after falling twenty feet, but he managed better than his opponent. Tallok spasmed, twisting through the air. He slammed into the ground, burying his sword in the earth and grounding out the energy. It took a visual effort for him to get to his feet and yank his sword out of the grass. Then he spread his wings and lept into the air again.

Static watched the thanagarian rise. He changed tactics. He sent out another wave of power, not lightning this time, but magnetism. Nth metal might have unique properties but at it’s core it was still steel.

He ripped the weapon out of Tallok’s hands, flinging it away. Commander Tallok didn’t falter in his charge. He screamed out a war cry as he reached for Static with his bare hands. Static met him with fists raised.

 

\---

 

Creagor snarled at Green Lantern as he tore apart some kind of fighting robot construct. The young Lantern wasn’t skilled enough to handle multiple constructs, but every construct he did manage to create was different than the last. One would be low and fast, knocking him off his feet. Then the next would be a mass of muscle that charged in head on. It was more then enough to pin him down even if a solid hit would shatter the construct of the moment.

Green Lantern was playing him like a game of chess. Sooner or later Creagor’d make a mistake and be taken out of the game. Unless he found a way to change the rules.

Creagor had heard the order to take out Zatanna. He’d been a bit busy at the time and it had seemed like Parin was handling it, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

She had managed to distract Zatanna’s guardians though. Flash zipped over the lawn acting as distraction and tearing apart the mechanics if Parin shifted her attention. Nightwing contributed by targeting the ship’s weapons with explosive arrows and batarangs.

Creagor gathered power in his gauntlets.  Green Lantern sent out a construct of a large hound. It snarled and leapt Creagor, but the hawk had already assessed the dangers it posed.  Creagor aimed and fired. He missed the dog completely and Kyle dodged aside with ease. The dog closed it’s jaws on Creagor’s upper arm.

Green Lantern half turned, still watching the blast. He realized the true target moments too late to stop it.

 

\---

 

Stargirl planted her spear and pushed herself back to her feet. Red Arrow was holding his own but the blood running down his head looked bad. It was only common sense that he wouldn’t hold out for long. Luckily Hawkgirl seemed to be in a similar condition. Her mechanical wings dragged behind her shooting out sparks when she tried to move them.

Red Arrow caught Hawkgirl’s arm on a downward swing, letting her mace brush past him and twisting her arm up behind her. Hawkgirl cried out fighting the lock, but Red Arrow had all the leverage. Then the Nth metal in Hawkgirl’s mace caught a spark from her wings. the energy was caught in a loop for a brief second before the current exploded.

Red Arrow was hurled across the lawn once more.

Hawkgirl screamed but she seemed less affected overall. She slapped at the harness that held the wings and stumbled forward as they fell to the ground.

Stargirl took the opening. She stepped in and brought her spear down along Hawkgirl’s centerline as if trying to cut her in half. Hawkgirl was caught off balance and stumbled to one side. She caught the blow on her shoulder, letting it slip down her arm to the crook of her elbow. She stepped in using the spear to pull Stargirl forward into her fist.

Wildcat had made sure Stargirl knew how to take a punch, but he hadn’t had super strength. Stargirl gasped trying to roll with it. She spun and the back end of her staff crashed into Hawkgirl’s arm. There was a crunch of bones and Hawkgirl cried out.

The thanagarian stumbled to one knee. She kicked out, knocking Stargirl’s legs out from under her. Hawkgirl shoved a shoulder into Stargirl’s diaphragm as she started to fall.

Stargirl hit the grass. Gasping, she tried to see through the blackness clouding her vision. She had to keep fighting, had to defend herself, but the breath had been knocked from her lungs.

There was nothing she could do but wait for Hawkgirl to finish her off.

 

\---

 

Zatanna had watched the whole battle with a kind of detached interest. Most of her focus was on maintaining the barrier, but it was like driving a car. There was a portion of her focus that was left free.

It was frustrating that she couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t retaliate when Red Arrow was thrown across the field, or when Green Lantern fell out of the sky. She wished she didn’t have to be protected. It was a surprise, but she couldn’t deny that she wanted to be fighting beside them. After hiding and shielding herself for most of her life, she wanted to step forward and fight.

Then Creagor’s blast had come at her. There was no one prepared to defend her, and Zatanna was almost glad of it.

She dropped her hands and stopped chanting in favor of whipping the top hat off her head and bracing for impact. The power arched towards her but the moment it came in range it seemed to be caught in an unseen wind. In the blink of an eye, Creagor’s blast had been sucked into a back hole in her hat, but it was enough.

The domed barrier over the battlefield cracked and then shimmered into non-existence.

 

\---

 

The shield fell. Parin saw her opening and sent the ship skyward.

Flash tried to intercept but his momentum was too much. He couldn’t turn in time. He shouted a warning to the others and wished for the thousandth time that he could fly. Without that option he went for the next best thing.

Flash did a few quick calculations and started running. He cranked up his speed, and spread out the energy he was generating until he had the air around him moving as fast as he was. He brought the air into a spiral and a twister leapt up from the grass, whipping at the building, the nearby trees and the debris from the battle.

The ship tried to fight the pull but the wind had come up too fast. With the screech of metal the already damaged craft was torn apart at the seams.

 

\---

 

Static did his best to stay inside Tallok’s range. They grappled in mid-air. Static clung to Tallok’s armor, magnetism locking him in place even when the Thanagarian commander divided into a series of aerial acrobatics that rivaled a rollercoaster. Tallok pounded at Static when he could reach him, Tearing at the heroes jacket.

When the shields fell, Tallok pushed for height. The air turned cold and a second later a whirlwind whipped up from below. Tallok let the wind catch him, pushing him even higher even as it sent him into a spiral that made his earlier maneuvers look lazy.

Static tried to hold on, but they were going so fast it was hard to breath. One moment it felt like he was weightless, and the next four or five times heavier. The blue of the sky became the only thing he could see; then red washed over his vision and the dregs of his power failed as he fell.

 

\--

 

Nightwing knew Flash’s moves. when the ship went up and Flash started running he knew what was about to happen.

Before the wind picked up he sent a final arrow at the one target who was completely open.

Distracted by Green Lantern’s dog construct and with his gauntlets recharging Creagor never saw the attack coming. The tip of the arrow exploded, covering his wings in a red foam that hardened as it touched the air.

Creagor realized what was happening too late. He thrashed, beating his wings even as the foam caught in his feathers and locked them down. Green Lantern’s hound went wild, snarling and snapping, forcing him back whenever he got too close to breaking free.

The ship exploded over them and Creagor looked up as the first shards started falling towards the earth.

Green Lantern had looked up as well. With a wave of his hand, the hound vanished and the broken pieces of the ship were caught in a large bowl. The last of the whirlwind faded, with Flash no longer working to generate it.

The ship wasn’t the only thing falling.

Green Lantern made sure the ship was on the ground, then launched himself into the air. Static was limp. His coat billowing behind him, the only thing slowing his fall. He was clearly unconscious and Green Lantern didn’t trust his skills enough to catch him with a construct.

Tallok was falling too; one wing guiding him, the other held at an awkward angle.

Green Lantern matched Static’s decent and extended his aura, letting the ring take most of the effort to catch the other hero. Above them Tallok snarled and angled his good wing to intercept them.

With Lantern focused on Static, Nightwing used the last arrow in Red Arrow’s quiver to force Tallok back.  It gave them enough space to land.

 

\---

 

Red Arrow saw Stargirl fall and Hawkgirl lift her mace for the finishing blow.

Red Arrow knew what it felt like to fight on his last legs. He fought in a world of aliens and magic and whatever the hell Batman was. When he came down to it he was just a man. If he was going to fight with and against all the aforementioned beings, he had to not only be able to take a punch, but take a beating and still come out on top.

That was how he felt now. He’d been thrown around more in the last few minutes then in the last few months. There were deep bruises over at least half of him, and the concussion was no longer just a possibility. He had shallow cuts across his chest and Electric burns covering his hands, arms and shoulders. There were probably half a dozen minor injuries that wasn’t even feeling yet.

But when Hawkgirl lifted her mace he could still stand and that was all he needed. He bent as he advanced, picking up Stargirl’s stolen spear. He swung the spear like an overlarge baseball bat just as Hawkgirl brought her weapon down. The spear caught Hawkgirl’s arm just below the elbow. Something broke and the mace was flung onto the grass.

Hawkgirl turned. Rage was pouring off her. Red Arrow knew in that moment that whatever shreds of the hero she had been were gone. This was a warrior in a berserker rage, who would not stop until she was dead or there was nothing left to fight.

Off balance without her wings she leaned forward and fell into a charging run. Red Arrow dropped to one knee, planted the spear in the ground and braced himself. He closed his eyes at the final second, turning away as blood splashed over his cheek.

 

\---

 

Zatanna gasped, fighting off the fatigue from so much continuous spellwork. A hot bath, a good meal and a solid night’s sleep was what she needed. She wouldn’t get it until this was finished though, and it was far from finished.

With her barrier gone, the fleet had finally got the message and were bearing down on them. Dozens of glinting specks had appeared in the sky and on the horizon. None of them were clear yet but they were coming in fast.

Zee may have been tired but it only took a glance at the rest of them to see she was better off than almost anyone else. She had failed to keep the barrier up but there were still things she could do to buy time.

Zatanna ran to where Green Lantern was setting Static down next to Nightwing. “I need height.”

It took Green Lantern a moment to get it. Then he left Static to Nightwing and with a wave of his hand they were in an elevator. “How high?”

“forty stories maybe?” her stomach dropped even as he nodded.

The elevator dinged, then shifted into a circular platform about twenty feet wide.

“Make a light. the brighter the better. I want them looking right here.” Zatanna instructed, and again Green Lantern obeyed without question. Their platform became the spire of a lighthouse. Zatanna took a deep breath, closed her eyes and opened her hands.

The Dazzler spell was incredibly simple. It had to be for it to work on this scale. She had practiced it a hundred thousand times, in her vegas shows and to add a little extra flair when she needed one. it was nothing that couldn’t be accomplished with glitter and the right application of wind machines and a few spotlights. On this scale though, it lit up the sky.

Zatanna set off the world’s largest fireworks display, backed by Green Lantern’s power and perfectly designed to draw eyes and stop people in their tracks.

The incoming ships had grown in size considerably, but now they slowed. No decently trained soldier just dove in without assessing things. So they looked, and they were caught.

Zatanna made sure everyone was looking. Made sure they couldn’t look away. Made sure they couldn’t do anything but watch.

And she desperately hoped it would be enough.

 

\---

 

Flash took a moment to look around the battlefield. Dissipating the twister after it had done it’s work and making sure it didn’t do any damage in the process, had been almost as much trouble as creating it in the first place.

Static was out of the game and being tended to by Nightwing. As he watched Zatanna talked with Green Lantern and he took them into the sky. Stargirl was on the ground gasping. Given some time it seemed like she would be alright but there wasn’t exactly a wealth of time in the middle of a fight. Red Arrow was on the ground covered in blood, half pinned under Hawkgirl.

Which brought him to their opponents. Hawkgirl was definitely dead. Creagor was pinned in a block of hardened foam. Flash didn’t think he’d be a problem since he seemed to have stopped trying to break out of it. Parin had been caught along with the rest of the ship. She was out cold, and even if she did wake up, her other injuries ensured she wouldn’t be able to do much. That left Tallok.

The Thanagarian Commander had managed to land, but it was clear his wing was paining him. He had a few other injuries but nothing that would stop him from fighting.

Flash put himself between Tallok and the others. “Surender. You’ve lost.”

“Not yet.” Tallok snarled. He drew his sword and stepped into range.

Flash pulled in just enough speed to dodge smoothly. Tallok stepped into the strike, turning it into the steps of a sword dance. Flash didn’t try to strike back. He made sure Tallok couldn’t focus on anything else. Every dodge was just a hairs breadth from hitting. Every time Flash moved he was just a little bit faster; and Tallok got a little more tired and desperate.

Finally the Thanagarian commander heaved his sword through the newly empty air and buried it with a grunt in the earth.

“Checkmate. Surrender.” Flash said again.

As if to underline his words a ribbon of red and purple explosions flickered across the sky. Behind Tallok two men appeared out of the air with the familiar light of a teleport. Flash let his eyes dart in their direction long enough to see they were human, before returning his attention to Tallok.

Tallok looked around, his chest heaving and his wings hanging low. He saw Creagors downcast eyes and stony expression. Then Parin’s limp form. His eyes looked up, counting the ships. Far fewer than there should have been, and in some cases showing extensive damage. Then his eyes fell on Hawkgirl.

Red Arrow had managed to crawl out from under her and she’s been turned over in the process. Her chest was a gory mess, with the spear broken and protruding in a jagged stump.  Her other injuries had started to turn interesting colors. Her helmet had slipped leaving her auburn hair in a fan around her head. Her eyes were open and staring. They left no illusion that she was only unconscious.

Tallok turned back to Flash and straightened his shoulders. He could hear over the coms the outcry from the fleet. The prison ship, their last command post had exploded violently causing a chain reaction in the ships near it. And since that had been their fall back point, that had included all the forces they had in reserve. Every ship that had been in the planet’s atmosphere had faced at least some combat. Strategically he knew that Flash was right. There was no victory to be had here.

Tallok reached to his belt and detached a small box with a covered trigger switch. “The honor of our names forfeit and forgotten.” He said in a low tone, almost to himself. Then he pressed the trigger. Flash saw the explosion start and finally realized the box was a grenade. With nothing he could do to stop it, he made sure no one was in range and let the Thanagarian commander die as he wished.

 

\---

 

Bruce hadn’t planned on surviving the explosion, but apparently that wasn’t being left up to him. He had set the final chain reaction in progress, but before he could sit back, Ted had grabbed his shoulder and pulled him through a field of light. A moment later the two of them landed on the grass outside a familiar large white building.

Bruce took in the remains of the battle. His shoulders lost a measure of tension when he saw Nightwing, alive and unharmed. He saw Flash stand in front of H’row Tallok and order his surrender. Tallok set off the grenade.

“heh, I think we won.” Ted laughed.

Bruce nodded. “Yes, the war’s over.”

Nightwing looked up at his words. He saw the deeper meaning in them. Bruce bowed his head.

Beside them, Stargirl levered herself up on her elbows and said. “Hey, you found my Star Rod.”

Ted grinned and held up the staff that had provided their escape. “Thanks for letting me borrow it.”

Red Arrow lifted one arm and pointed woozily at Nightwing. “You used up all my arrows! Give me back my damn bow!” The fact that he seemed too exhausted to stand brought his threats down a few levels. Nightwing snorted and shook his head, a smile working it’s way over his face. Flash saw it and met it with a smile of his own. His laugh was relieved, and relaxed, and open.

 

\---

 

That was the clip that played that night on the evening news with the caption; **Checkmate: Thanagarians defeated by Flash’s new team of heroes.**

 

 


	33. Chapter 33

 

“How’s everything look.” Nightwing asked, leaning over his girlfriend’s shoulder. Oracle had been busy micro-managing the aftermath of the invasion for the better part of two weeks. She was good and she’d done everything humanly possible but it was still like herding cats. She leaned her head back and groaned when he started to rub her shoulders.

“It’s a mess, all of it. Your friend in LA is now pitching himself as the man with a million faces. Gear upload the full battle yesterday, not just the bit after the dome came down. I have no idea where he got it but it’s already got over six million views. Everyone’s trying to get their hand’s on Thanarian tech, legally or otherwise. Lois Lane dumped a whole paper’s worth of articles onto the internet. Apparently she’d been writing them in secret this whole time. I wouldn’t mind except that half of them contain Lord secrets that frankly, were secret for a reason. Everyone’s ecstatic that we’re not dead of course but half the people who saved us were members of the resistance and therefore terrorists.

“And in the meantime the resistance is fighting among itself. Admittedly Red Arrow has kept it to a minimum, but there were some nasty people in that group. Crime is up about a thousand percent. the police don’t know how to handle people like that; and that’s not even counting the monsters that got out when you Zatanna and Red Arrow destroyed Cadmus. Thank god the magical community has settled down like nothing ever happened.

“Of course, Everyone who ever had anything bad to say about the Lords is up in arms now that there’s no one going to come after them. People are calling for elections which would be fine except that no one has prepared for them. So instead people are saying the current administration is stalling.

“The heroes that are active are being ridiculed, especially if they had any connection to the Lords. Of course the ones who weren’t trained by the Lords have basically no experience. There have been more fatalities in that area then in the past ten years; which only makes people more eager to stop it.”

Nightwing leaned down and kissed Oracle’s forehead. “That is a mess.”

Oracle sighed. “People are angry and frightened. The Lords were supposed to protect us from things like this and when we needed them they weren’t there. No one wants a new group of Lords but we still need protectors. Experienced heroes who can be better than their predecessors.”

Nightwing raised an eyebrow. “Why do I have a sudden sense of foreboding?”

Oracle laughed and squeezed his hand. “Have you seen what Max Lord has proposed to the UN?”

Nighting slumped into a chair and groaned halfheartedly. “Not you too. Flash already tracked me down and babbled at me in superspeed for ten minutes befor making me promise not to abandon him in his hour of need.”

“Well can you blame him? A month ago no one knew he existed and now he’s an idol for the whole world. Wally’s a nice guy and he cares about people, can you imagin him trying to be a politician?”

Nightwing winced in sympathy.  “I did promise to help, it’s just…”

“I know, Dick. We were both trained to work from the shadows, but he’ll need us. They all will. We won, now comes the real hard part.”

Nightwing laughed again.

 

\---

 

“So, what do you think?” Flash tried to catch Red Arrow’s eye. The other hero was leaning over the edge of his rooftop perch scrutinizing the building across the street.

Red Arrow grunted.

Flash looked down at the Luthorcorp building. He knew it was one of the most likely targets in the city for an attack. That didn’t mean he found the stakeout any less boring. Stakeouts were boring even at normal speed and Flash had been going twice that fast for a while now. it was like he had to make up for the two years of not using his powers.

“It’s not like you can just go back to like it was before. None of us can after that fight.”

“I was only there by chance.” Red Arrow growled.

Flash shrugged. “I don’t think so. You’re better then that.”

Red Arrow rolled his eyes and looked away from the Luthorcorp building long enough to give Flash an unimpressed look. “I’m a terrorist.”

“You know the president has pardoned the past crimes of everyone who helped defend the Earth?”

Red Arrow rubbed at his temples. “That’s not the point. I’m not someone people should be looking up to.”

Flash considered that. “If that’s the way you feel, I’ll respect your decision. I think you should reconsider though, We need someone like you. You’d keep us honest.” Then Flash was gone in a blur of red.

Red Arrow let out a slow breath. He hadn’t worked with anyone for longer than a single job since Green Arrow. But that team, Stargirl, Flash…. He may not like Nightwing on principal but the man was smart.

He looked down at the building again, drawing his bow as the thieves he’d been watching for, finally appeared.

 

\---

 

“Hello Dick.” Batman said from his seat in front of the computer, or maybe it was just Bruce since he wasn’t in costume. His greeting at least informed Nightwing that none of the strays he had picked up were around. Dick had thought Bruce would never train anyone else but then he’d never factored in Barbara being the one to make introductions.

“Bruce.”

Bruce waited. He was a master at that game so Nightwing didn’t even try to challenge him.

“Want to tell me why you’re throwing in with Max?”

“Does that mean you’ve accepted his invitation?”

“Haven’t decided.” Nightwing waited a beat. “Well?”

“You think I wouldn’t make sure I had a hand in anything that potentially dangerous?”

Nightwing crossed his arms. “See, that’s something I’ve been trying to work out. Batman, yes definitely, but Bruce Wayne, no.”

Bruce finally turned his chair around to look at Dick. “I was in that video too you may remember, even if no one saw me do anything. Bruce Wayne just had a rude awakening. Besides, Batman is dead.”

“Dead?”

“Yes, along with the rest of the Lords.”

Nightwing chewed that over. in the early days Bruce had drilled the concepts of masks and legends into his head. But then, that only worked if you stayed in the shadows. Bruce had abandoned that when he and the rest of the Lords had taken control. “That’s it then?”

“The world still needs heroes.”

“Hence helping Max.”

Bruce nodded. “Indeed.

“So you’ll play black king to Flash’s white knight. Train up your new recruits to take us all down if we cross the line, is that it?” Nightwing threw up his hands glaring at his onetime mentor.

“When I put my own personal feelings above the mission I lost sight of why Batman is needed. Every power needs to be checked, balanced. No one should have the kind of power we had. I don’t intend to forget again.”

“Fine, yes, you’re right.” Nightwing rubbed at his mask with one hand. “Just don’t think I’m going to let you play puppet master anymore. Your power needs to be checked just as much as anyone elses.”

“So you have chosen then. You’ll play white king simply to keep an eye on me.” Bruce had that kind of not-smile on his face that Nightwing had always seen from Batman.

Nightwing snorted, rolled his eyes and turned to go.

“Dick?”

He paused and looked back over one shoulder.

“You’re welcome here. Any time. The new recruits could learn from your experience, and… I wouldn’t mind the company.”

Nightwing raised a hand in acknowledgment.   

 

\---

 

Static stared out the windows. Outside Star Labs was a crowd of protesters that were likely to grow violent any second. Static would have been hanging around even if he didn’t have a week left in his internship.

“They still out there?” Stargirl asked. Static had learned that her real name was Courtney but since they were both in costume ( For the inevitable moment when things went wrong ) he had gotten in the habit of thinking of her in terms of her hero persona.

Stargirl had stopped by several times in the last few weeks. First there had been getting Gear to look at how she’d integrated the teleporter into her star rod. Then that had sparked of several ideas and he’d asked to overhaul the design. It had led to several late nights with pizza and popcorn where they swapped stories and tested theoretical sciences.

“Yeah. I think they’ll mob the next car that tries to get through.”

Richie looked up and tried to talk around the screwdriver he was holding between his teeth. “You cood ‘ust go talk to ‘em”  He removed the screwdriver and used it to tighten a few bolts. “There you go, try that.” he passed the star rod back to it’s owner.

Stargirl looked away from the window to take up her staff. She made sure she wasn’t going to hit anything, then spun it from hand to hand, making a few practice strikes. She ended by pressing a switch built into the grip. A beam of gold light hit a wall in front of her and rippled out into a portal showing the New York skyline. She switched the teleportation feature off before some pidgins found the gateway and passed it back to Gear.

“The balance is still off.”

Richie assumed his thinking expression. Stargirl went back to the window.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask…. Did Flash talk to you?”

Static glanced at her and grinned. “You too?”

“Yeah. What do you think?”

“As if I’d turn down the Flash.”

Stargirl matched his grin. On the street below them someone blew a whistle and was answered by someone with a bullhorn. The noise grew.

Stargirl took back her staff before Gear had the opportunity to take it apart again.

“Shall we?”

“After you.”

 

\---

 

Kyle had done a bit of experimenting since the battle but overall he’d tried to keep  low profile. Gigantic invasion aside, he didn’t really know what he was supposed to do now. He was a superhero, but what did that mean exactly? Should he be going on patrol? if so, where was he supposed to patrol? Should he try to build a police scanner so he’d know when things were happening? Did the ring come with any kind of manual?

He’d started sketching to help his mind process. He’d filled four sketchbooks before he’d run out of paper and started doodling with the ring instead. Every time he used it, he marveled at what the ring could do.

Then the Squirrel had turned up.

The squirrel was about four feet tall and wearing a green lantern uniform so Kyle figured he was one of the good guys.

“Umm, hello.”

“Yes, hello, you’re the new recruit then?” said the squirrel.

“Yes?” Kyle drew out the word.

“Excelent. I’m Green Lantern Ch’p of sector 1014. I’ve been sent to retrieve you for training and orientation on Oa.”

“Oh, that’s great. Of course. Umm just one question. How long will that all take, because I’ve kind of got something next week that I really can’t miss.”

 

\---

 

Zatanna took a bow to standing ovations. Her new show had sold out in less than a minute. She could perform anywhere she wanted. There were talkshow hosts lining up just to beg for her to come on their shows. It was more fame and success then most people could dream of.

And she was getting bored of it terribly quickly. There were no surprises in a magic show for the magician. Spying and fighting had forced her to think on her feet. Every spell was suddenly vital, even if she’d already done it a million times before.

Flash had shown up with flowers and an opportunity after her first performance. She had let him take her to a late night dinner and explain all his reasons. She had brushed him off. She’d repeated all the reasons that had been perfectly valid before the world had decided to tilt on it’s access. He had said he understood and paid the bill and left.

Of course the reasons she’d used before didn’t really work any more. It wasn’t like she could keep her head down when she was now officially an A-list celebrity. As for the rest of it… well it didn’t seem all that important any more.

She’d been hooked when she wasn’t looking. Hooked on the thrill of saving lives, the fights and powers and being in the center of it. Really challenging herself. It was like the first time she had performed, except multiplied.

Zatanna considered her options. The sound of the crowd filtering out of her theater filtered through. She still loved it, it just wasn’t enough any more. She reached for her phone. It occurred to her that maybe she was being a little selfish, thinking she could have it all.

But why not. That’s what magic was for, wasn’t it. Making all your dreams come true.

 

\---

 

The press conference was held outside the Flash museum. Max Lord had suggested holding it outside the United Nations or on the White House lawn where the damage was still visible. Flash had listened to all these suggestions and nodded in the right places and then said no, it was the Flash museum or he wouldn’t be showing up.

Nightwing arrived before anyone else. He quietly staked out a spot behind the stage where no one would really notice him but where anyone could see him if they bothered to look. He calmly watched the sound crews who arrived two hours ahead of time set everything up. Then the various reporters who wanted to stake out good seats. Max Lord and his crew arrived forty five minutes before the press conference was scheduled to begin.

They were the ones who set up the seven chairs behind the podium. They did mike checks all over again. Max himself made sure he could be seen going over note cards and generally being very interested in everything.

Bruce Wayne made an appearance half an hour before things got underway. He was on the phone from the moment he stepped out of his limo onwards.  though he did spare a moment to congratulate Max. He also nodded to Nightwing though the hero pretended not to see it.

Fifteen minutes before things were to start, when the reporters who had cameras or were otherwise doing this live had started making opening remarks, Nightwing stepped forward and took a seat on stage. The crowd burst into a quiet babble. The people who knew his reputation started telling everyone who didn’t. There was a rush for phones as people tried to dig up more information. If Nightwing hadn’t had Oracle on his side he might have been worried.

Ever since Max had pushed through his government sponsored superhero team through the emergency session of congress, people had been wondering who would be filling the roster. Iris West-Allen (who had managed to secure a seat in the front row) leaned forward holding out a tape recorder.

“Nightwing, can you confirm that you are joining this new team?”

Nightwing raised one eyebrow, then smiled. “As Mr. Lord will no doubt tell you: Yes, I will be a member, though not the leader of this team.” He held up a hand as Lois Lane, sitting two seats down from Iris, started to ask another question. “I believe there will be a period for questions afterward.”

Lois looked put off but everyone else was too busy speculating on what this would mean. Who would lead the team? Who would the other members be, and what did this mean for the team dynamic?

Then a shimmering portal appeared in the air through which a patch of summer sky could be seen. Static floated through the portal, followed a second later by Stargirl.

“Hey. Did we make it in time?” Stargirl tucked some of her hair behind one ear.

Nightwing gestured them to the seats beside him and nodded. “You’re right on time.”

Again the crowd of reporters started chattering. A lot of people had suggested and argued for and against the heroes of the final battle. Static was a hero in good standing but as a lieutenant for the Lords some people were against him on pure principle, despite his experience. Stargirl was said to be too young, too inexperienced, despite the footage that proved otherwise. They’d both been controversial names that had been tossed around, but they had been thrown around. The confirmation that they were on the team created speculation but not overwhelming levels of surprise. The reporters were mostly speculating about power levels and the balance of the team.

Nightwing spared a moment to wonder how many people had bets placed on who would be on the team.

Out of the blue sky came came a green light. the scene was briefly washed in a single color, than Green Lantern became the next confirmed member. He stepped down onto the stage.

“Hey, I’m not late, Awesome.” he slumped into the chair on the other side of Static and started chatting as if the reporters didn’t exist. That was probably a good decision since they had started up again, though for a different reason than before.

Not many people had been in a good position to see John Stuart’s death. Moreover, the footage of Kyle in the final showdown had been rather blurry and more green than anything else. The debate over John’s death had been raging without pause. Now that people were actually seeing a human Green Lantern who was not John Stuart, it had thrown new fuel on the fire.

At one minute to go, the center of the stage glittered with dazzling sparkles and a puff of purple smoke. Zatanna’s entrance was as flashy as any of her Las Vegas shows. Some of the reporter actually cheered. she took a bow before retreating to her seat. There were probably people who had argued against having Zatanna on the team but they hadn’t been very loud. She knew how to play a crowd and people willingly volunteered to be wrapped around her fingers.Nightwing was thankful that she had reconsidered for that reason alone.

Max checked his watch and looked at the two empty seats. Nightwing had to laugh at Wally being late. He wondered if he was taking a leaf out of his mentor’s book and it would become habitual. Max waited five more minutes before shaking his head and pasting on a smile. He waved as he made his way to the podium.

“I’d like to thank you all for coming. We all know why we’re here so I’ll get right to the point. The --”

Max’s words were cut off by the roar of a motorcycle. The crowd turned to see Red Arrow casually take off his helmet. He walked the bike to the edge of the stage, and propped it against the backdrop. He nodded to Nightwing, glared at Static and Stargirl wave him into the seat next to her. Instead of just sitting down he spun the chair around and sat in it backwards, his bow in easy reach. The crowd had gone silent the whole time, and stayed silent as he glared out at them from behind his mask.

“Ah, yes, hello, welcome.” Max tried to pull things back together. He shuffled his note cards. “Where was I, yes, ah… You are all aware of the Checkmate initiative. I hardly need to mention the last two years, or the recent events that have lead to the creation of this team. We are here today not to dwell on the past but to look to the future. This team of heroes will stand as our our primary defenders under the sponsorship and...” he trailed off. The eyes of the crowd had drifted to the last seat on the stage. A seat that was no longer empty.

Everyone had expected the Flash to show up. The whole thing was taking place in front of the Flash museum after all. The news that the world had a Flash again had made everyone go crazy even before the team had been announced. There wasn’t a single reporter in the crowd (with the possible exception of Iris) who wouldn't give their left hand for a quote from him.

But this hadn’t been what they expected.

Wally had slipped onto the stage using his super speed there was no doubt of that, but he’d done it with zero fanfare. There had been no sudden gust of wind or blur of red, possibly because he wasn’t even wearing his costume. He was dressed in a Flash t-shirt, that had probably come from the gift shop behind them all and a completely normal pair of jeans. He didn’t even have a mask to conceal his identity.

Max finally turned around and followed everyone’s gazes. Wally stood up and stepped forward.

“Mind if I say a few words?”

Max stepped aside because what else could he do?

Flash looked out over the reporters. “Hello everyone. I, um, I don’t have a speech or anything. I just want you all to know a few things. First: I am the Flash, but I’m not the guy who wore that costume two years ago. That Flash was my mentor, and I plan to do my best to uphold his legacy.

“Second: this team thing. I’m grateful that the President and the United Nations are trusting me with this responsibility of leading this team. I promise I’ll do my best to earn that trust. I believe the world still needs heroes. But as a hero I have to know and trust the people who have my back. That’s why I’m the one who chose the members of this team.”

He paused and made sure everyone was listening. “Everyone here has proven themselves and I am honored to fight beside them.”

Nightwing tried not to laugh at Wally’s complete lack of subtlety. Down the line, Red Arrow snorted and Static was grinning ear to ear.

“I know the idea of a hero team like this will make some people nervous.” Wally went on. “You have every reason to be. That’s why I’m speaking to you now.” He gestured at his lack of a costume. “Under the mask I’m just another guy. Just someone doing what he can to help out.” He took a last deep breath.

“My name is Wally West. I’m the fastest man alive. And now you all know the truth.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it everyone. We have finally reached the end of this story. When I started, I had no idea this would turn into such a monstrosity but I wouldn't change a thing.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's been with me on this crazy journey, for all the Kudos and Comment's that kept me going.
> 
> This story is also up on fanfiction.net under the same title and username.
> 
> Again thank you all. Good night.


End file.
